A Little Kindness Goes a Long Way
by rpgplayer658
Summary: Nick has just moved to South Park, and after making quick friends with Butters, he and his father, Colin, decided to see what they can do to help the children with their issues while trying to deal with their own. Warning: Will contain child abuse and depression. Part 1 of 5 in my stories.
1. I'm Going Down To South Park

In the state of Colorado, there was a little mountain town called South Park, home to many kinds of weird folks. From homosexuals, short insomniacs, Jewish people, it was a teeny tiny band, and this small town was just about to get a new arrival. Colin Finn and his son, Nicholas, he had decided to move to South Park so they could start over in a brand new town after a recent tragedy occured.

The two had already called the mayor of the town, and he had already paid for a house in the town, all he needed was to just unpack their things from the moving truck when it arrived.

"Dad," said Nicholas, "Out of all of the places in the world to move to, why did you choose South Park? There are only two seasons in the place."  
"Because I felt like we needed a fresh start in a place away from the cities and the bustling streets." Colin answered.  
"You DO know what has happened here before right?"

"The American-Canadian war was started here, why?"

Nick did not expect his Dad to know the answer, so he stood there in silence.

"I may not look it son, but I do know what I am getting myself into. This place isn't exactly Nirvana, and I know it is going to be tough to make friends, but remember what I told you…"

"If people start to make fun of you, just make up a clever comeback and don't be afraid to call them out." Nick answered.

"Keep it light though, the mayor told me that the kids here are nice, but they are a bit of a chore to get to know sometimes."

"Dad, I know what I am doing. You just focus on getting the house ready, and I will focus on making friends. Got it?"

"Got it, son."

After arriving at the house, he went inside to find to a decent sized two-floor house. Colin's family was of decent wealth, he was a therapist that specialized with children, and he was pretty well known in the city, mostly in part because he was the only one that was actually worth a damn, and could produce good results, but he felt like moving into a big house would've made it harder for Nick to make friends, but even so, this house still screamed, "We're richer than you all!" But that wasn't what was important at that moment. What was important was getting all of his stuff moved in. Thankfully, most of the stuff was already in its place, and he wasn't going to question it.

Nick warmed up to the place rather quickly, his room was on the second floor, and it was empty, of course, so he decided to spruce up the place with posters of various Broadway shows, movies, video games, and so forth, he also put his toys, in one of the drawers, and set up his computer at his desk. Once he was done with decorations, it began to compliment his own personal tastes. However, he didn't feel like doing much of anything else, so he went downstairs, and watched Terrance and Phillip.

"You still watch this stuff." Colin asked, hearing the obnoxious laughter, and fart jokes from the kitchen.

"It's a guilty pleasure, you don't see me making fun of the kinds of shows you watch. And besides, this show is popular around here for better or for worse."

Colin shrugged his shoulders in response and went back to unpacking.

After a few hours of unpacking, someone ranged the doorbell. Nick knew his Dad was busy so he opened the door in his stead. It was the couple from next door, the male had short brown hair, while his wife had short blonde hair, and their son, who had been hiding behind his parents, had short blonde hair as well. Nick felt like something was off about them, but decided to just let the feeling subside.

"Hey, son, my name is Stephen Stotch, and this is my wife, Linda, and my son, Butters."

"Nice to meet you all, my name is Nicholas, but you can just call me Nick." Nicholas shook the hands of the couple, but noticed that Butters seemed to be too shy to talk to him. "My Dad is inside in the kitchen if you want to talk to him." And from the first glance he did not like Stephen or Linda, he felt like there was something wrong about them, but he couldn't place what. He didn't know what to think of Butters yet, but he seemed nice enough, in contrast to his parents.

"Hey there, new neighbor, my name is Stephen." Stephen went to introduce himself to Colin.

"Nice to meet you, Stephen, my name is Colin. Seems you already met, Nick."

"Yeah, seems like a good kid."

"Is this your wife and son?" Colin asked looking at Linda and Butters. "That is right."

"My name is Linda, and this our son, Leopold Butters Stotch, but everyone in town calls him Butters." Colin didn't know what to think of this family, so he decided to sit down with them and talk, while Stephen sent Butters off the play with Nick.

"Is that really your name, Butters?" Nick asked, finding it weird that his name was a pun.

"Y-Yes it is. Well my actual name is Leopold, but I don't really mind being called 'Butters.'" Butters answered nervously. Nick thought that kid seemed nice enough, but a bit on the frail side, he could tell that he gets teased a lot, just from how Butters stood. Leaning back, always looking down, sweeping his feet against the floor, but he seemed like a nice kid, and a lot more tolerable than his folks. "Why don't people just call you, Leo, or something?" Nick asked.

"I-I don't know," Butters answered softly. "Everyone around here has called me Butters since I was born. Besides I don't mind."

For some reason, Nick felt sorry for the kid, he could tell that was a good kid, but he was surrounded by others that probably manipulated him into doing things he wouldn't want to do otherwise. "Hey, I noticed you live next door, and if you would like, we could be friends." Nick offered. Butters seemed to brighten up at the word. "R-Really?! You mean it?!"

"Sure, just give me your number, and I will text it to you."

"Sure…" Butters handed him his phone number, and Nick texted a 'hey', and they put each other down on their contacts. "Thank you very much. Aw geez, you are probably the second person who actually wanted to be my friend."  
Nick caught what he said, and decided to press him for more information. "That can't be true, I am pretty sure the others wanted to be your friends."

"Not really, I mean, people like me, Stan and Kyle at least try, and they hang out with me on occasion, but I am usually spending my time with Kenny."

"What do they look like?"

"Oh, uh… Stan wears a blue beanie and a brown jacket most of the time, he has black hair, and he is best friends with Kyle, they have been together for like years, he is a Jewish kid with red hair, but he covers up most of it with a green hat, and he usually wears an orange jacket."

"And Kenny?"

"Oh… Kenny usually wears an orange parka, he can be hard to understand because his voice is muffled by the parka, but he has blonde hair."

"Thanks for the info, at least I'll know who to become friends with."

"Just be careful, they like to give the new kid hell, especially Cartman, but you should be fine if you know what to say around them."

"And what does this Cartman look like?"  
"He is a fat brown haired kid, shouldn't be hard to find him in a crowd."

Nick chuckled at the comment. "It seems to me that not a lot of people like him."

"No, but he somehow manages to be part of Stan's group. Cartman likes to use me for certain jobs, and well… they aren't getting fun. I remember this one time where he put his mouth on my penis in my sleep and took a picture to make fun of me, but it ended up backfiring on him. Although he did have a girlfriend."

Nick was struck silent by what he had just heard. _It's worse than I thought._ Nick knew that Butters was naive at the first glance, but with people like that, this naivete was dangerous. "Hey, do you think that Cartman will try to pick on me?" Nick asked.

"At least most of the school will. I even did my fair share of bullying on new kids. I'm not a complete wimp." Butter's admitted.

"Bullying, in general, is not good, Butters. I would actually like to make friends with the other kids though."

"Well, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny will probably warm up to you, if you can show that you aren't a pussy." Butters said, innocently.

"Oh, well that won't be too hard," Nick admitted. "Although, my Dad is a bit of a Gary Stu."

"What's that?"

"A Gary Stu is someone who doesn't have a single flaw and can solve everyone's problems. I love my Dad, don't get me wrong, but he is way too perfect, and that can either be a blessing or a curse. Or both…" Butters looked at Nick with more confusion, and Nick couldn't help but sigh. From what he can tell, the people here in this town aren't the smartest people in the world, but in a way, he was kinda glad that was the case.

"Um… Nick." Butters got Nick's attention. "If you want, I can introduce you to a few kids in town, all I have to do is tell Stan and Kyle, and they will try and make you feel welcome, just be mindful that Stan can be a bit of killjoy sometimes."

"That is alright, I like being around cynics, it makes me feel more aware." Nick didn't really care about the attitude he just wanted to make friends with the people in this town. "When can we start?"

"Now." As soon he asked, Butters texted everyone in town about Nick.

 _Butters: "Hey guys, guess what their is a new kid in town, and he wants to meet everyone._

 _Kyle: "Seriouslly, well we might as well got meet the kid._

 _Stan: "It's not like I have anything better to do._

 _Cartman: "Why should we care, he is probably another poor kid like Kenny."_

 _Kenny: "FUCK YOU, ERIC!"_

 _Kyle: "Calm down, Kenny. Where are we going to meet, Butters"_

 _Butters: How about at Stan's house?"_

" _Stan: My parents are gonna be out tomorrow, so it should be fine. Is 12:00 alright?_

"Stan wants to know if 12:00 tomorrow at his house is alright."

"That is fine, I will tell my Dad about it."

 _Butters: "New Kid says that is fine."_

 _Kenny: "Wait, you're with the new kid?"_

 _Butters: Yeah, my parents wanted to introduce themselves to his Dad."_

 _Cartman: "Where is his Mom? Fucking complete strangers?"_

 _Kyle: SHUT UP, FATASS! We will learn about him tomorrow."_

 _Cartman: GOD DAMMIT KYLE, DON'T CALL ME FAT, YOU STUPID JEW!"_

 _Stan: "Butters you might want to remove yourself from this chat, this might go on for a while."_

 _Kenny: "Yeah, we don't want your parents grounding you again. At least I don't…"_

 _Butters: "Thanks guys, I will see you tomorrow."_

And with Butters got off of his phone. "Alrighty, the date is set, Nick."

"Thanks, Butters, it's getting pretty late, we should probably get back downstairs.

"Yeah, if we don't come down now, my parents are going to ground me."

Nick noticed what Butters said. _Ground him for not coming down stairs, that seems kinda harsh._ He decided not to press on it though.

"Oh good, Butters I was about to yell for you to come down." Stephen said, nonchalantly. Nick gave his Dad a "What the fuck" look, and his Dad returned it with a "Don't question it" look.

"It's time to go home now. Did you enjoy your time with Nick?" Linda asked.

"Sure did, Mom. He even gave me his phone number."

"Wow, that was unnaturally nice of him."

Colin could tell that Butters parents loved their son, but the way Butters acted made him think that something was wrong.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Butters." Nick said, waving at Butters.

"S-See you soon, Nick."

And then they walked back towards their house, Nick and Colin decided to have a chat.

"I am going to meet a few more of the kids tomorrow."

"That's good, did Butters set it up."

"Yeah, he is a really nice, Dad. I like him."

"That's good, Nick, but did you notice something off about him." Colin gave Nick a serious look, and Nick responded, "Yeah, he seems to be really afraid of his parents, he was worried that if he didn't come downstairs soon, he would be grounded, even though his parents sent him up with me. I also noticed that he held on to his right arm alot, like it was in pain."

"I get the feeling he is not the only kid who had issues. I am going to ask the mayor for my own office here. You focus on trying to find anything that the other kids are hiding, okay?"

"You got it, Dad. I don't want to make the same mistake as last time." Nick's expression suddenly turned melancholic.

"I know, son. I know."

"Dad, you can't do this alone. I know now might not be a good time, but you should seriously call Edward, he might be able to help."  
"Nick, I haven't spoken to your brother since he got married two years ago."

"I know, but maybe now that _she_ isn't here, maybe he will come home to us."

"We'll see, son."

"Everything will be alright, Dad. I just know it."


	2. Consider Yourself At Home

The next day, Nick had to prepare himself to meet a few other kids. He was both nervous and excited at the same time. He really didn't know what to expect, he figured one of the kids would be Cartman, and he wasn't exactly looking forward to meeting him from what Butters had already told him. Although it wasn't exactly 12:00 yet, he decided to get dressed early so he wouldn't have to worry about it later. He then went downstairs to talk with his father.

"So, how are things going with the new office?" Colin had just got off the phone and was about to go and cook breakfast.

"The Mayor agreed to get me one, so that's a plus." Colin answered as he was cracking eggs into the skillet.

"But…" Nick knew that not everything was going to plan. His Dad had a certain tell that only Nick could see, a tell that made it clear when his Dad was distressed or worried.

"But she wants me to talk to the adults in this town about it, and she warned me that some of them are going to be a challenge for me to convince."

"I get the feeling that Butters' parents wouldn't mind, in fact, I get the feeling that they would be the first ones on board with a professional therapist, that isn't the school counselor." Nick stated, not actually knowing that the only professional mental help here IS the school counselor.

"Yeah, they should be easy, but I don't know about everyone else. So while you are talking to the kids, I will be out talking to their parents."

"Then I should probably tell you that the house where I am meeting a few of the kids, his parents are out of town. I believe his name is Stan." Nick didn't want his Dad to go to the house that didn't have any parents to talk to, and he also didn't want his Dad to just suddenly appear while they were having a conversation, that would have been awkward.

"Thanks, son, that is good to know."

"No problem, Dad."

After they ate their breakfast, Colin decided to head out and talk to the adults, while Nick waited for Butters to come by, and after a few hours, Butters had rung the doorbell.

"Hey, Butters." Nick said, smiling at his new friend.

"Hey, Nick." Nick noticed that Butters didn't have his hands behind his back and that he wasn't holding his right arm this time. In fact, his arms were right by his sides, and he that this little innocent smile, that some would call cute. "You ready to go."  
"Sure am," Nick closed the door behind him, and then started walking with Butters.

"Man, none of them are going to believe that you became my friend so easily."

"So, I am going to assume that you get bullied a lot." Nick said, with a worried look on his face.

"Yeah, but it's not that bad. It was worse last year, but it had gotten a little better since then." Butters admitted.

"Did you ever fight back?" Nick asked.

"Well, there was this one time where I became really rude, and basically called everyone out on their behavior. My parents decided to send me to the place I was born in Hawaii, and Kenny came along to make sure I got on the plane. I am pretty sure it is because I called him the only decent human being in this town."

"So, you don't really fight back?"

"No, my parents would ground me if I did, heck, they even grounded me from just coming home with a beaten face."

Nick noticed what Butters said, and stopped in his tracks. "Wait, you got beaten up, and your parents grounded you for coming home with a battered face."

"Yup…" Butters didn't seem to know that this isn't normal.

"Dude, that is really fucked up."

"That is something Stan would say, isn't that funny." Butters said, trying to drop the conversation.

"Butters…" Nick said with a concerned look on his face. "Do your parents ground you for petty reasons like that often?"

"Yeah, I got grounded because I made a funny face in the yearbook picture by accident, and they kept grounding me because I made a funny face without really meaning to, and they put a paper bag on my head until I could stop."

"What was the face you were making."

Butters looked at him with his regular face, and Nick realized that he was right to worry about Butters. "So, they grounded you because you made a normal looking face in your yearbook photo?"

"Nick, why are you getting so upset?"

At that point, Nick saw that Butters was scared, he didn't even realize that Butters saw all of this as normal, and with that, he decided to drop it. "I'm sorry, let's just keep going. We can talk about this some other time."

Butters was glad that he decided to drop the conversation. "We should be almost there, let's get going."

"Butters, what do you usually do for fun."

"I go outside and play games with the other kids, I usually roleplay."

"That's cool, is it like Dungeon & Dragons or superheroes?"

"Both," Butters answered, with a smile on his face. "When we play D&D, I am a Paladin, and when we play superheroes, I change into my alter ego "Professor Chaos."

"Is there a story behind this Professor Chaos?"

"Yeah, but it's long one, let's just say that is the identity I take when I want to be the bad guy every once in a while." Butters didn't want his new friend to know that he seriously used this identity to try to cause trouble in real life, not just in games.

"I used to play D&D with my friend back in the city, I always loved being the types of characters who are known for stealth, but can fight with a bunch of people around. Like Solid Snake from the Metal Gear games, or an assassin." Nick admitted to Butters. I haven't played superheroes before, but I am not against to trying it."

"Cool, maybe I can convince the others to let you in on our next game." Nick smiled at the offer, if it meant making friends with others, he wouldn't say no. "That sounds great, thanks for the offer. You're a good kid, Butters."

"Aw shucks, don't go making me embarrassed now." Nick chuckled at Butters statement, he really did enjoy spending time with Butters, he thought he was funny and nice, and just an all-around good kid, he couldn't understand why his parents were so abusive or why he got picked on so much. But he would soon see why.

After a surprisingly long walk, Butters and Nick had made it to Stan's house. They both went up to the door, and Nick rang the doorbell.

"I got it." A voice from behind the door called out.

The door opens to reveal a boy wearing a brown coat and a red hat, from what Butters had told Nick, he figured this was Stan. "Aw, you must be the new kid, my name is Stan, what's yours."

"My name is Nicholas, but you can call me Nick for short."

"Oh my God, you talk." Stan exclaimed.

"Yes, I do know the human language, why are you surprised.

"The last new kid barely said anything, in fact, he was mute most of the time." Stan answered.

"Oh okay, can we come in now."

"Oh sure."

They walked inside Stan's house, and it was about the same as Nick's house, just with a different wallpaper and floor. As soon he walked in he noticed three other boys sitting on the couch playing video games. Nick wasn't sure which game, and he really didn't care so he just turned his attention to the three.

"Hey guys, this is the new kid, his name is Nick."

"Did Butters tell you that or the mute?" Cartman asked.

"I guess you're Eric Cartman." Nick said.

"Holy shit, he does talk!"

"Why are you making a big deal out of this, not every new kid we meet is going to be a mute." Kyle stated.

"Thank you." Nick said. "Judging from the clothes and hat, are you… Kyle?

"Yeah, that's right. It's nice to meet you, Nick." Kyle said shaking Nick's hand.

Nick then turned his attention the kid in the orange parka, he figured this kid ought to be Kenny.

"You must be Kenny." Nick said, with his arm extended.

"That's right, it's nice to meet you." Kenny said with his voice muffled, but Nick could somehow understand him.

"Butters told me a lot about you guys."  
"Oh really, what did the little fag say?" Cartman asked.

"Well, from what he told me about you, I can say that you are one fat son of a bitch."

"DON'T CALL ME FAT, NEW KID!" Cartman shouted.

"What are you gonna do? Tell on me? You probably get that comment every day." Nick said, smirking.

"Actually we usually just call him fatass." Kyle admitted.

"SHUT UP, JEW, NO ONE ASKED YOU!" Cartman exclaimed. Nick saw that Kyle was about to yell back, but Nick decided to step in. "Fatass? Even better. A lot less to say. Say, Kyle, is Cartman always being an anti-semetist?"

"Every fucking day." Kyle said, trying not to strangle Cartman.

"Hey Nick, you better be careful when picking on Eric." Kenny said.

"Why? What could he possibly do to me?"

"He could kill your Dad, and have his pieced chopped up and serve it to you in chili." Butter answered.

"Come again?"

"Cartman killed Scott Tenorman's parents and served it to him in chili because Scott kept messing with him."

"What the actual fuck…" Nick said, surprised that this kid would do something that horrible.

"That's right, new kid, you better be careful what you say to me or your parents gonna get it.

"Don't treat me like shit, and we won't have a problem.

"Dude, he treats everyone like shit, and we do the same, just not to the point of what Scott did." Stan said.

"Alright, I will keep that in mind."

"So Nick, why did you move to South Park, not much out around here."

"Well, after some recent events, Dad felt that it wasn't a good idea to stay in a place full of bad memories, and he felt like we needed a new start somewhere, and he chose South Park."

"His Dad is a really nice guy." Butters added.

"We weren't asking you, Butters. Stan said, with a cynical tone.

"It's not that big of a deal, Stan." Nick interjected.

"My bad." Stan said, looking down. _I have to be careful, this kid seems to know his stuff._

"What happened, did your Dad get caught fucking a kid?" Cartman asked. "And is your Mom in on it, too?"  
"You better shut your mouth, Cartman." Nick said, with a voice so threatening that even Saddam Hussein would turn tail and run. "No, what happened had nothing to do with Dad, and my Mom died when I was seven."

Oh geez, we're sorry, dude, Cartman didn't mean to be insensitive." Butters said.

"You don't have to apologize for him, I already know he isn't sorry." Nick stated, with a furious look at Cartman.

Kenny was the one who noticed this time, and he asked, "So, do you have any siblings?"

Nick knew what Kenny was doing, and he was very appreciative of his effort, so he decided to play along. "I have an older brother who left home shortly after Mom's death. We haven't spoken in three years though. He and my Dad didn't exactly get along."

"What's his name?" Kyle asked.

"Edward Finn." Nick answered. "But that's enough about me, do any of you have any siblings."  
"I have a bitch of an older sister name Shelly." Stan answered.

"I am going to take a wild guess and say that she used to beat you."

"Yeah… it was a bitch to deal with, and no one would help me.  
"Yeah, because you were getting beat up by a girl." Cartman joked.  
"Speak for yourself, Cartman. You got beat by Wendy." Kyle said, with a smirk on his face.

"Oh yeah, well I turned your crush against you."

"Goddammit Cartman, I told that I'm over her!"

While that was going on, Nick asked, "Who's Wendy."  
"Stan's girlfriend." Butters answered.

"You have a girlfriend, Stan?"

"Yeah…" Stan said, blushing. "This is her." Stan pulled out a picture of them with their arms around each other.

"Huh, she is actually pretty. Lucky you." Nick said, smiling.

"What about you, Nick, have you ever had a girlfriend, or are you…?" Kenny began to ask. Nick knew what they wanted to know, and there was no harm in telling them.

"I never dated either sex, I wouldn't exactly mind dating a boy, but I do prefer girls." Nick said.

"So, are you straight or pansexual?" Kenny asked.

"I don't know, I like girls more than guys, but I wouldn't mind dating a boy." Nick shrugged and said. "More straight than gay. Anyway, do you have any siblings, Kenny?"  
"I have an older brother named, Kevin, who is just sorta there, and a little sister named Karen, who I love unconditionally."

"That must be hard on your parents, considering your situation." Nick said, not wanting to be rude.  
"Well, they are pretty shitty role models." Kenny admitted.

"What about you, Kyle?" Kyle was still arguing with Cartman.  
"What?"

"Do you have any siblings?

"He's adopted, but yeah. My baby brother, Ike."

"I am going to assume Cartman doesn't have any siblings." Nick stated.

"No I don't, and I don't want any." Cartman stated.

"You don't have any, Butters, right?"

"No, my parents are afraid that they'll also be a troublemaker."

"You're not a troublemaker, Butters. You just have shitty parents." Nick said, without any reluctance.

"My Dad is kinda mean, true, but my Mom at least loves me."  
"Even if they do love you, they shouldn't ground you for no reason."

"Awwww, look, it's only been a day, and the new kid already has a boyfriend.  
"Do you want to die?" Nick asked Cartman without any sign of emotion. This made Cartman shut up.

"Do you guys know about Butters' parents?" Nick asked.  
"Aw geez, you don't have to ask them."  
"I need information, Butters." Nick said, with a sympathetic look. "You can leave if you want."

"Nah, I'd rather be here."

Nick got his phone out and started recording their conversation.

"Well, to be honest, we have known about his parents for a while." Kyle stated.

"His parents have always been strict with him, but he often gets grounded for no good reason."

"This one time, we got Butters out of the house, and I took his place for him." Cartman started laughing. "And-and, they kept calling to check on him every hour or so, and I said things to them that he would never say, and when they got back, I had already left the house, and they started beating him. Man, it was a fun watch."

The whole room went silent. Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Nick all had their mouths open.

"Dude…" Stan said. "That is fucked up." Butters looked like he was about to cry.

"It doesn't cost a thing to be kind, dipshit." Kenny said.

"Kenny, Butters told me that he considers you his closest friend. Has there ever been a time where either of you stood up to him."

"I made an anti-bullying program with Butters as the face of it." Stan admitted.

"I put off my birthday, when he went missing, which was also caused by Cartman." Kyle admitted.

"Give me the short version."

"Basically, I had my party at Casa Bonita, Cartman wanted to go, but I didn't invite him, I invited Butters, some trickery happened, and he tricked Butters to go into hiding. Although he did end up in juvie for two weeks, so it wasn't a win for him."  
"Yes it was, I got to eat at Casa Bonita." Cartman said, dreamily.

"Cartman, you're a sick fuck." Nick said, nonchalantly. "What about you, Kenny?"

"I went with him to Hawaii and stuck with him even with Cartman teasing that we were a couple. Even held his hand for an extended amount of time."

"It seems to me that at least three of you have felt bad for Butters, but you didn't do anything to stop it."

"Well, the cops here are idiots, they know about Butters parents, and they still do nothing." Kenny admitted.

"Butters, I'm sorry you had to hear all of this."

"It's fine, I'm used to it at this point." Nick cut off the recording and saved it on his phone.

"Alright, now that is out of the way, I bring this information to my Dad, and he can get you an appointment for therapy."

"You would do that for me?" Butters asked.

"We're not going to sit by and watch this happen, Butters." Nick stated. "Are we?"

"Well, that depends. Is your Dad smart."

"The smartest guy I know. He doesn't take shit from anyone."

"Sounds like a Mary Sue to me." Cartman noted.

"That may be, but at least he isn't an asshole." Nick stated.

"Hey, would your Dad be willing to take someone in for free?" Kenny asked.

"Sure, I can get you or your siblings in."

"Wow, and to think that we used to bully new kids."

"Even if you did bully me it wouldn't have worked out."

"You know, we came here to have fun, why don't you join us and play video games." Kyle offered.

"Sure, why don't you join us too, Butters."

"Alright." Butters said, still a little melancholic. Kenny grabbed his and Cartman's controller and gave it to Nick and Butters.  
"Thanks, Kenny.

"No problem, dude, consider yourself at home."


	3. Times Are Hard For Dreamers

A few hours had passed since Nick and Butters had arrived at Stan's house. Not realizing the time, Butters had to get on home, his reasoning being that he didn't want to be grounded. Feeling a little responsible for not keeping track of time, Nick decided to go with Butters to make sure that his parents don't do anything too drastic. Meanwhile, Cartman had already left because they were all ignoring him giving his usual 'Screw you guys, I'm going home.' So it was just Stan, Kyle, and Kenny at the house now.

"So, what are your guys' thoughts on Nick?" Kenny asked, curious about what Stan and Kyle were thinking.

"I think I am going to like that kid, he seems like a real smart guy, and he's not afraid to speak his mind." Kyle answered.

"I think he's nice…" Stan answered. "Although I find it weird that he holds such high respect to his Dad, it almost reminded me of Chef…" The room went silent at the mention of Chef. "Oh come on, guys, as if anyone could replace Chef, I'm sure his Dad can't be that smart. I mean, look at everyone else in town."

"Yeah, you have a point there, Stan." Kyle responded. "But I still want to hang out with him though."

"Me too." Stan admitted. "Maybe we should go to his house tomorrow after school. I mean, anything to get me away from this shitty place."

"Now, now, Stan…" Kenny began. "Remember what we told you about your cynicism."

"Keep it in check, my bad."

Kyle looked at Stan in concern. Stan noticed his friends concern. "Don't worry, I have gotten used to the way things are now. I'm not such a negative Nancy anymore, Kyle." Stan smiled at Kyle, and his look of concern gave way to relief. "Hey, do you two want to spend the night?"

"Sure, anything to get me a proper meal." Kenny said, not bothering to get his parents permission.

"Why not, my parents actually packed me a bag in case I decided to stay the night, it's not like we live that far from each other anyway." Kyle grabbed his bag and brought it Stan's room, and Kenny followed suit. Meanwhile, Stan made sure a certain item wasn't in his drawers. He carefully grabbed the item without Kyle or Kenny seeing him, snuck back downstairs and threw it at his fence in the backyard, as it shattered into a million pieces. _I don't need that stuff tonight, not with Kyle and Kenny here._ Stan thought, as he went back inside, and snuck back upstairs.

Meanwhile, Nick and Butters were on their way home. "Oh man, what I am gonna do?!" Butters exclaimed in a panic. "My parents are going to ground me for sure!"

"You said you'd be home by 7:00, and it is only 7:05." Nick stated. "You lost track of time, so what? It's not that big of a deal."

"You don't understand, my parents expect me to on time at all costs, if I am late by a minute I get in trouble."

"Butters, I know people say that you gotta respect your parents, and I do agree to a point, but that is way too harsh." Nick could tell that Butters didn't want to be in trouble. "Alright, I will go in with you."

"No, dude, you don't have to do that." Butters said, shocked that someone would actually care to help him.

"I can't just throw you into the fire. Besides, I am partially responsible for not keeping track either."

"What time do you have to be home?" Butters asked.

"My Dad didn't say, probably because he knew I would be fine." Nick answered.

Despite Butters appreciating Nick and his kindness, and truly considered him a friend. He did feel a bit envious over the respect and trust Nick and his father had. Something that he lacks with his own family. He knew that he needed to stand up for himself, not just to his parents, but to Cartman as well, he knew that, but he ignored the thought out of fear of his parents, and out of fear of Cartman. Cartman may seem like he is all talk, and he may be a pushover when it comes to fighting, but he knew that what Cartman couldn't do physically, he could easily do mentally. He had manipulated not just Butters into doing what he wanted, but he manipulated people to act and say stuff they would otherwise never say. Butters already pushed it with the video he showed to the school, after he tried to trick him with AWESOM-O, he didn't want to risk losing a limb. However, he is starting to think that maybe with Nick and Colin around things won't go so bad anymore. "Butters, are you okay?" Nick asked. "You kinda spaced out there for a second." Butters had just come back into reality, he didn't even notice he was having a long thought process. "We better get you home, I will take the fall if I have to, so don't worry."

"Thanks, Nick, but I don't want you to get in trouble for my sake."

"Well, that is too bad because I am doing it anyway." Nick said, in a stubborn tone.

Butters didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. He knew that Nick wasn't going to change his mind, so he decided not to argue about it, and they walked towards Butters house. As they went inside, they found that no one was home yet. "That's strange, I figured they would have been home by now." Butters admitted. That is when Nick remembered that Dad had been talking to the parents in town about opening an office for his practice. "Oh yeah, my Dad is supposed to be talking to the parents about his new office in town."

"What are you talking about, Nick?" Nick then pointed outside to his house and saw that everyone was at their new house. "My Dad has always thought about doing something like that, but I didn't think he would actually do it. I am more surprised that every adult in town is there."

"Oh, you really shouldn't." Butters admitted. "Our folks will do anything to make sure they have their own party time."

"Oh boy…" Nick said, starting to get worried about his Dad. "My Dad isn't much of a drinker, do the people here like to drink?"

"Oh sure, but it should be fine, everyone usually walks everywhere."

"I'm calling my Dad." Nick got out his phone and clicked on his Dad's icon.

"What is it, Nick?" Colin asked.

"I was just wondering how you were."

"I'm fine, son." Colin reassured. His voice wasn't slurring, and he didn't have any auditory signs that he was drunk, so Nick knew he was telling the truth. "That's good, I know how much of a lightweight you are."

"Hey, I used to be hande my alcohol."  
"When you were in college," Nick stated. "And you haven't been in college for almost 20 years."

"You got me there, son." Colin smiled at his son's statement, as cheesy as it was, he was just glad that his son can still trust him, despite what they have been through. "Where are you anyway?"

"I'm at Butters house," Nick answered. "Butters was worried that because he was going to be home 10 minutes past his curfew that he would be grounded, so I decided to accompany him to make sure he didn't have to deal with at home, but I assume they are at our house at the moment."

Colin was surprised to hear that Nick would actually go out of his way to make sure someone didn't get in trouble, while he always knew that his son had a good heart, he never actually went this far with his friends back at the city, he would admit when something was his idea, but he never actually stood alongside a friend when they were in trouble, not if he wasn't involved or didn't have to get involved. "Dad, are you there."

"Sorry, I was lost in thought." Colin admitted. "Yeah, Steven and Linda are here, they are currently talking to the Broflovski's and the McCormicks."

"Hey, Butters do your parents have Life360?" Nick asked.  
"No, I don't think so." Butters answered. "What is Life360?"

"It's an app that makes that keeps tracks of a person's location."  
"How?"

"Through our phones."

"Son, should I _not_ suggest to get that app to the them?"

"Don't even bring it up in conversation, Dad." Nick answered.

"Alright, if you say so."

"I am going stay with Butters for a while, can you can try to convince his parents to see you as a therapist."

"They actually already asked."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, and I said yes."

"What did they say, Dad?" Nick was morbidly curious about what Butters parents reason to have his son go into therapy would be.

"Well, you're not going to like it son. Their reasoning is because that Butters had acted up so many times that they think that a therapist will set him straight. They then went on to tell me how he has _acted up,_ and it seems to me that they are misguided."

"Goddammit…" Nick muttered. "Alright, you have fun, while I spend time with Butters."

"Alright, son, try and be home before midnight."

"I'm just across the street, Dad."

"Alright, if you plan on spending the night, let me know. You do have to go to school tomorrow."

"You got it, Dad." Nick hanged up and put his phone in his pocket. "Hey Butters, it looks like my Dad is going to help you after all."

"Really?"

"Let's go to your room, I will explain everything there." They then went to Butters room, and Nick explained what had happened, and Butters tried and make sure that he got all of the information down. "So, how do you feel about seeing my Dad?"

"I think it sounds like a good idea, I'm glad my parents are trying to make sure I don't get any more trouble."

"Their intentions are misguided, I personally think that my Dad will be able to give you the confidence to stand up for yourself."

"Last time that happened, I got called a psychopath."

"I'm pretty sure you were just letting out your aggression," Nick said. "But can you tell me what happened." Butters explained to Nick that he was getting bullied by his grandmother, and how Stan felt bad, while also not knowing it was his grandmother that was bullying him, and that he wanted to spread awareness but he ended up jacking it in San Diego. "Okay then… Was what Stan referring to the same awareness?"

"Yeah…" Butters answered, slightly embarrassed for Stan. "Well, his heart was in the right place at least." Nick understood that Stan was incredibly misguided, but he also saw that Stan was trying to do a good thing, it just ended up making him look like a jackass. "Does that happen often?"

"Yeah, way more than they like to admit." Butters answered.

"Butters, can I just say that I am impressed with you?" Nick asked.

"Why do you say that, Nick? I'm nothing special, I'm just a dreamer." Nick simply smiled, grabbed a piece of paper from Butters desk, and wrote something down. "Here, give this song a listen." Nick said, handing him a paper with the song "Times Are Hard For Dreamers" from the musical version of _Amelie_. "You don't hate musicals do you?"

"No, not really. I think they're pretty neat."

"Well, I feel like this song describes you pretty well, and I think it's a good fit for our situation, or if you want, I could sing it now, but I don't have my guitar with me."

"You can sing?" Butters asked.

"Yeah, my Dad taught me. He's a trained baritone, while my range is more along the boy soprano, but I prefer to sing lower than that."

"I can only sing a little bit, it's nothing special, but I would like to hear you sing."

"Does your school have a music class?" Nick asked.

"Only on Thursdays." Butters answered.

"Alright, tell you what, I will prepare a song to sing this coming Thursday, so everyone can know that I have a talent."

"Oh, I can't wait." Butters said with excitement.

But as Butters started to have something to look forward, he hears the door opens. "Oh God, my parents are home! What if they figure out I didn't come home at 7:00!"

"Calm down, Butters, we'll just tell them that we got here five minutes before 7:00 and that I have been with you the whole time."

Before Butters could respond his father called him downstairs, and Butters ran down so fast, that Nick almost tripped when he tried to follow him.  
"Oh, I see you have a friend over, I was just going to ask you if you got home exactly at 7:00." Stephen gave Butters a glare that scared Butters to death. Linda was standing right beside him and gave him the same glare. "He got home five minutes early actually." Nick began. "We left Stan's house at around 6:45, and got here around 6:55. Can you stop glaring at him now? You're freaking him out." Nick didn't even break eye contact from them, Butters was impressed with how confident Nick was, even while lying. Butters could never lie too well, he would always panic whenever he was pressured.

"Is that so, Butters?" Linda asked, not letting her glare go away. Butters almost caved in, but Nick gave him a subtle gesture that told that everything's alright and responded. "Yeah, Mom, we came home early because Nick didn't want me to get in trouble for being late. I'm not in trouble for being early am I?"

Stephen and Linda smiled at Butters, which gave Butters relief. "Glad to see that you're finally listening to parents." Stephen stated. "Now it's late, Butters, so say goodnight to Nick, and go straight to bed." Linda said as she headed upstairs with Stephen.  
"Whoa…" Butters said, surprised that he actually lied to his parents. "This is the one time I actually lie to my parents, and I didn't even get in trouble."

"How does it feel?" Nick asked, seeing Butters pleasant surprise.

"It feels kind of nice, actually. But at the same time, I kind of feel guilty."  
"That's a good thing. You shouldn't be in trouble for only being a little late, a scolding may be justified, but unless you don't respond to your parents when they ask where you are, they shouldn't ground you for such a petty reason."  
"I'm glad you were with me, Nick, it really helped."

"It's not a problem, Butters." Nick looked at his phone and saw that it was now 9:30. "I wish I could stay, but I really need to get going. I will wait with you at the bus stop tomorrow, alright."

"Alright, I will see you tomorrow."

"Hey, if you ever need someone to talk to, just give me a call, I will try to answer when I can."

"Thanks, man."

"See you tomorrow, Butters."

* * *

 **Thanks again for the continued support, and as usual be sure to leave me constructive criticism. Now, in case you haven't figured it out yet, I will be naming chapters after certain songs, and when I can, I will try to have that song be connected to the plot, either by having the song actually present in a diegetic form, like a mention of the song, like in this chapter, or by having the content of the chapter be similar to what the song is about. As such, I would highly recommend starting with this chapter to start listening to the song the chapter is named after, either before or after you read the chapter. On some occasions, I will have some characters sing out, but I don't want it to be random like in a musical. I know that South Park has had plenty of characters sing their hearts out, the movie was bloody parody of some musicals, but I do want to put some form of realism in this story. As usual, I hope you all have a great day, and I will see you next time.**


	4. Nick's First Day At School

It was the next day, and it was Nick's first day at South Park Elementary. He was really excited to talk with Butters on the way. Nick looked at his clock and saw that he had an hour to get ready, so he took a shower, and he put on a _Bright Star_ T-Shirt with blue jeans and a dark green winter coat, with teal gloves. Nick was an avid musical geek, and he always enjoyed going to see musicals with his father. Colin had even introduced a few obscure musicals in his life, such as _Ordinary Days, 35MM,_ and a few others. Although he loved musicals, he also really like to play video games, but at the same time, he felt like that if he didn't go outside at least once a day, he would be wasting his day doing nothing, so he always tries to find an excuse to go out, no matter how small the reason. Once Nick was ready, he went downstairs and ate the breakfast his Dad cooked. "You excited for school, son."

"In a way." Nick answered.

"You excited to see the other kids, aren't you?"

"You got it."

"Well, I'm glad to see that you are excited…" Colin said.

"Yeah, I just hope that I don't make the same mistake again…" Nick said, with a tone so melancholic that it would make even the cruelest people concerned.

"Nick, what happened back then wasn't your fault."

"I know, but it's still hard."

"Are you going to tell your new friends about what happened?"

"Not immediately, I want to tell them, but only a little bit of a time." Nick answered.

"That is wise, Nicky…" Nick looked at Colin with a little surprise. Colin noticed the expression of surprise on Nick's young freckled face.

"You haven't called me 'Nicky' since Edward left," Nick explained. "It just caught me off guard, that's all."

"Sorry, I didn't realize it had been that long." Colin had sat down at the table to eat his breakfast and noticed that Nick's face was a little red. "Don't worry, I won't call you Nicky when you have friends over."

"Thanks, Dad, I don't hate the nickname, but it is incredibly embarrassing to be called 'Nicky' when I almost a teenager."

"You're 10, buddy, you still have to wait three years," Colin said, smirking.  
"I'll be sure to give you hell with my teenage angst when I do turn 13."

"Oh great," Colin responded. "I am sure looking forward to that!" Nick grabbed the spoon that was right next to him and responded. "I will throw this if you don't be quiet."

"Don't start fights you can't win." Colin said, with a mock-threatening voice.

Nick pouted and put the spoon down. "Why do you have to be right all of the time?"

"Because I am your father."

"That doesn't mean your right all of the time." Nick noted.

"True." Colin looked at the clock, and saw that Nick had 15 minutes until the bus arrived. "You better get going, the bus is about to arrive."

"Alright," Nick grabbed his back and headed towards the door. "I love you, Dad…"

"I love you too, Nicholas."

Nick exited his home and saw that Butters was waiting for him. "Hey Butters, how are you?"

"I'm good, Nick," Butters answered. "I listened to that song, last night."

"Oh, and what did you think of it?"

"You were right, I could relate to it easily."

"In what way?"

"Well, the first part I can see relating to you. You know, with you moving into town, and using what you learned to make your life easier here, but the second part I could relate to me with the fact that I have gotten this far by being myself, and it honestly does feel far enough for me."

"Good, is everything clear?"

"It isn't where I am, it's only where I go from here that matters now."

"Got you…" Nick said, confusing Butters. "I was trying to make you quote the lyrics."

"Aw geez, and I didn't even notice."

"It's fine, I used to do that to a friend back in the city."

"Really?!" Butters said, with a surprised expression.

Yeah, he was smart, but I could always get him to quote lyrics to a song by using the correct order of words."

"That must have been hilarious," Butters said, giggling a little.

"It really was…" Nick said, trying to keep smiling. "We better get to the bus stop."

"Alrighty, Nick."

Butters and Nick then headed to the bus stop, and they noticed that Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny were already waiting at the bus stop.

"Hey fellas," Butters said, with his usual cheer.

"Oh great, Butters and the new kid are here."

"I have a name, dipshit," Nick said.

"Fuck you, douchebag!"

"Hey guys, do you remember my name at least."

"Yeah, it's Nicholas." Stan stated.

"How are you doing, Stan?"

"Good, I guess."

"What about you two?"

"I'm alright." Kyle responded.

"I'm alive, so I'm good." Kenny said, looking around.

"Don't jinx it, Kenny." Cartman said, jokingly.

"Shut up, Cartman." Kenny said, a bit more wary of his surroundings.

"Gee, Kenny, no need to be so wary, it's not like the bus is going to run you over." Butters stated.

As soon as he said that, Nick noticed that the bus was coming and that it was aiming right towards Kenny, and without a moment's hesitation, grabbed Kenny, and pulled him away from the bus as it came to a screeching halt.

"Oh my God, they almost killed Kenny!" Stan exclaimed.

"You bastards, watch where you're driving next time!" Kyle yelled directly at the driver.

"I told you, Kenny, I told you not to jinx it."

"Fuck you, Eric!" Kenny said, clearly pissed off. "Thank you for saving me, you are one of the few people that saved me from a painful death."

"No problem, it was almost like they were trying to run you over." Nick noted.

"Holy crap, Kenny!" Butters yelled. "Are you okay?! Aww hamburgers, I should've kept my mouth shut!"

"Calm down, Butters." Kenny said, muffled. "This shit used to happen so often in third grade, I am used to it by now."

Nick took note of what Kenny said. It almost sounded like that Kenny had died and come back rather than narrowly avoid death, but he decided it would be best not to press on the issue. He was more worried about Butters well being. Nick already knew that Cartman likes to trick Butters, so he had to keep an eye on him. "We should get on the bus guys." Nick stated. As they boarded the bus, Nick noticed a few of the kids. One had brown hair and a red jacket on, while one of the kids was African American, he already knew the richest kid in town was black, so nothing new to report there, but then he saw something interesting, he saw to male students holding hands, he knew that a few people in town were progressive, but he didn't that there was a gay couple at the Elementary School, and this caught him off guard. "Craig, why is the new kid staring at us, it's really giving me a ton of pressure." The messy blonde haired kid said.

"He probably wasn't told about how we are one of the only gay couples in school, Tweak. Hey, New Kid, can you not fucking stare."

"Sorry, about it just caught me off guard, I wasn't expecting a gay couple this…well, young." Nick admitted. "I'm Nick, and judging from your blank expression, you don't give a shit."

"Good guess, New Kid, maybe we'll actually get along. My name is Craig and this is my boyfriend, Tweek."

"Nice to meet you both, now I'll do you a favor, and leave you both alone."

"He seems nice." Tweek commented.

"He's definitely a lot more talkative than the last New Kid."

Nick saw that Butters was sitting by himself, and decided to sit right next to him.

"Sorry about that, I got distracted."

"You just met Craig and Tweek, didn't you?"

"Yeah, how did they end up dating?"

"It's a long story, basically the Asians in town kept drawing yaoi art of them together, and staged a break up so they could stop, only for it to depress the town, so they "got back together", however, the town eventually stopped caring after the whole Ad wars, but they stayed together anyway." Nick didn't need the full story, and he was glad that Butters shortened it. This was enough info for him to gather that they seem to really like each other, and that was really all that mattered to him, he could tell that Tweek can't handle a lot of pressure and he could also see that Craig was there for him no matter what. It was legitimate, and that was what's important.

After about five minutes, they had arrived at the school, it was about what Nick expected. Typical hallways, typical lockers, and typical classrooms. Nick knew that he had to report to the guidance counselor and the principal, and so he did so. He walked into the principal's office and introduced himself. "My name is Nicholas Finn, I assume you both are Mr. Mackey, and PC Principal.

"That's correct, M'kay." Mr. Mackey said. Stan did tell him that the counselor said 'M'kay' a lot, what he didn't tell him is that he looked like an overinflated balloon. _"Must resist making a joke about his head…"_ He then looked over at PC Principal, and he looked like a typical college frat boy, and apparently, according to Kyle, he made a strict regimen to be politically correct, which apparently has made life a little harder for the students at South Park, but he mellowed a little bit after the AD Wars, and even more so after Strong Woman joined the faculty. "Aw, so you must be the New Kid. Look there are going to be a lot of strict rules you have to follow, and the consequence for breaking the rules are going to be incredibly painful. You got that, bro?" Nick knew what kind of person PC was, and while he may be tough, he wasn't going to just let people push him around. "I will try not to break the rules if I can, sir, but I can't make promises I know I can't keep."

"Good enough for me, now Mr. Mackey, take him to the fourth-grade class."

"M'kay, PC."

And just as soon as he entered, he was already leaving the Principal's office, and was now heading to the fourth-grade class. The class was in the middle of a lesson when they both entered. "Hello everyone, as you can see, you have a new student in your class, and I expect you to treat him as well as you do everyone else, M'kay."

"So, are you telling them to be nice, or to treat me like shit?" Nick asked, jokingly.  
"I am telling them to be nice to you, M'kay."

"Oh good, because I think that might be hard for a certain student." Nick looked directly at Cartman, and gave him the evil eye. "Anyway, my name is Nicholas Finn, but I go by Nick, and if you don't treat me like shit, and we won't have a problem." Nick then went to his seat, which just so happened to be right next to Stan and Kyle."

"M'kay, you may continue your lesson, Mrs. Nelson." And just like that Mr. Mackey exited the room. As soon as he did, Kyle passed Nick a note, he grabbed the note, and he looked at Kyle with the expression that said: _"If you have something to say then say it."_ And Kyle responded with a face that said: _"Just read it."_ Nick just sighed and read the note: _'Can Stan, Kenny, and I come over to your house after school.'_ Nick grabbed his pen, and wrote on the back of the paper, and gave it to back to Kyle. Kyle looked over at Nick, and saw that he was now paying attention to the what Mrs. Nelson was teaching. He then read the reply: _'As long as Butters can come too, my Dad needs to talk to him.'_ Kyle looked over at Nick, and gave him the 'okay' signal, with which Nick responded with a thumbs up, and after that, they continued on with the class.

Classes had just ended and now it was lunchtime, and Nick decided to confront Stan and Kyle to see what their motives were for hanging out. "Stan, Kyle, why do you guys want to hang out at my house?"

"Because we want to, it's as simple as that." Kyle answered.

"Yeah, not every action has to have an ulterior motive." Stan responded.

"Alright, I was just making sure, as long as Cartman doesn't come along, we'll be fine."

"Did you see his name on the note?"  
"Nope, and that is a good sign. I do honestly like you guys, but I just can't be around Cartman."

"Wow, you've only known him for a day, and you already hate his guts." Kyle noted.  
"I'm pretty sure that is heavily common, Kyle." Stan said.

"I would hope so." Nick commented.

"Yeah, well, a lot of people aren't exactly a fan of me either, Stan."

"Come on, Kyle, you couldn't have known that the President would've reacted that way."

"Yeah, but I still acted like my Mom…"

"Am I missing something here?" Nick asked.

"I might've caused the nuke in Toronto, and now the Canadians are pissed."

"Right, that happened recently. It's amazing how we were once so close, and then a stupid and immature cartoon caused a rift between us."

"We were close at one point?" Stan asked.  
"Yeah, after the fall of the Twin Towers, 38 planes had to go and stop in Gander, Newfoundland. The musical Come From Away goes into the stories of the pilots, passengers, and residents of Canada time there, and it was a time where everyone was there for each other. Give it a listen when you have the chance."

"Hey, maybe that will help you and Ike." Stan said.

"Maybe, but he won't even talk to me, Stan."

"It's still worth a shot." Nick caught on to the fact that Kyle and Ike aren't as close as they used to be, he decided to keep that in mind for the future. "Your brother adores you, Kyle, I'm pretty sure he will come around eventually."

"I hope so."

After that conversation, lunch went on as normal, Nick sat down with Stan's group, which consisted of Kyle, Cartman, Craig, Tweek, Token, Butters, a crippled kid named Jimmy, and a brunette kid named, Clyde. Overall, this table seemed to be really close, with the exception of Cartman, everyone seemed to get along pretty fine, but he noticed that a few kids had some issues, namely Butters, Kenny, and Kyle. He did want to help them in some way, but he also had to be sure that other kids didn't have any problems, he did notice that Stan seemed to be very cynical, but at the same time, he seemed to be very caring. And with that, he decided that once his Dad gets the files, he is going to give them a read so he can learn everything he could about the kids of South Park.

* * *

 **Alright, and that is the end of chapter four, now actually have something to ask of you guys, it might seem a bit early but I would like to see drawings of what you guys think Nick and his father look like, I mention in this chapter that he has freckles, but that is all we got. I could just describe what he looks like, but I want to see what you guys can do. Just a few guidelines, it can't be anything dirty, and if you want, you can draw him hanging out with the other kids or just one of them, but they must not be romantic, if you are going to say... draw Nick with Stan, it has to be in a friendship light. Be sure to either send it to me through my private messenger or email me at SouthParkFan658 with the subject being "South Park Art." Thanks in advance, and as always be sure to leave constructive criticism.**


	5. If You Knew My Story

Once school got out, Nick met with Butters to tell him that Stan, Kyle, and Kenny were coming over to his house and that he wanted him to come along too. "Will Cartman be there?" Butters asked.

"No, Kyle didn't even mention it to him." Nick answered.

"Aw geez, are you sure they are going to want me there?"

"The deal was that they could come if you came," Nick explained. "If you're worried about your parents, we'll be right next door, and my Dad will make sure that nothing will happen to you."

Butters stood there in thought, it seems like he wanted to go, but he also didn't want to get grounded, however, he also felt that he could trust him. "Alright, I'll go." Nick couldn't help but smile at the fact that he decided to come. _"Anything to get him away from his parents,"_ he thought. "But on two conditions, you have to perform your song today in front of all of us, and I want to be able to talk to your Dad. That way I can just say that I was at therapy session at your house." Nick was surprised that Butters was trying to bargain with him. "If you wanted those, you just needed to ask me."

"Oh, really? Aw man, and I thought I could actually strike a deal." Nick chuckled at Butters, not to make fun of him or anything, he honestly found it endearing how naive he was, while also being aware at the same time. That was one of the few things that Nick liked about Butters, that no matter how tragic his life could be, he would always hold out for a better tomorrow. But now is not the time for an internal monologue. "Hey, guys! He said yes!" And at that moment, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny appeared from the school doors. Butters looked confused. "Were you guys there this entire time, and I just didn't notice?"

"Yeah, it's really not that hard to do that Butters." Kenny answered.

"Aw shucks, I thought I was a little sneaky."

"I hate to say it, Butters, but you're like an open book." Stan said.

"Yeaaah, we like you, Butters, but you aren't exactly the best at being secretive."

"You guys weren't able to figure out that I was Professor Chaos." Butters said, with a sudden burst of confidence.

"Actually-" Stan began to say.

"Let's get going, guys!" Nick said, interrupting Stan.

"Come on, Stan, Butters has little confidence as it is, just give him this one." Kenny whispered.

Stan looked at Butters and saw how proud he was that he was able to keep his alter ego a secret when in reality, he only was able to fool the adults. And that isn't much of an achievement in this town. "Yeah, you're right, I will keep quiet."

Butters noticed that Kenny and Stan were talking about something, and asked: "Hey, what are you guys talking about?"

"We were just saying how excited we are to hang out with you and Nick." Kenny lied. Kenny got along with Butters better than the rest of the group, but even he had to admit that he found a bit too naive for his own good, but at the same time, he can't help but enjoy hanging out with him, even it doesn't happen often.

"Alright, I have to get a few things set up, so why don't you guys head home and bring something with you," Nick said. "Butters and I will go on ahead."

"Are you sure?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah, it's a little surprise for you guys." Nick said.  
"Is it food?" Kenny asked, so quickly that it almost gave everyone except Nick a mental whiplash.

"You'll see."

And with that, everyone headed on home, with Butters going home with Nick. Nick didn't want Butters to head on home to his parents, he had only known them for a few days, but he figured that they would ground for him something ridiculous like wearing matching socks. Okay, maybe not that ridiculous, but ridiculous enough.

Once they got home, Nick headed towards the kitchen. "My Dad should be upstairs if you want to talk to him."

"What are you going to do?" Butters asked.  
"Just cooking something up for everyone that is coming."  
"You don't have to do that." Butters said. "You're right," Nick said. "But I want to, so don't complain, you're getting a free meal." Butters looked at Nick with a confusion, he knew that a few of the kids here could cook, but they usually don't bother and just let their parents cook. However, Nick did seem to know what he was doing, so, against his better judgment, he decided to head upstairs and talk to Colin.

When he got upstairs, he noticed that one of the doors was open, he went towards the door and saw Colin sitting down in a chair. He seemed to be reading a book, he was so fixated on the book that he did not notice Butters standing in the doorway. Butters looked around the room, and saw that it looked like a typical office a therapist would have, but unlike other therapist offices, this one seemed to be more, how shall we say it, roomy. Colin was still sitting there entranced in his book, Butters wanted to get his attention, but he was afraid that he would make him mad, so he stood there in silence. "Hey Dad, get off your book and talk to Butters!" Nick shouted from the kitchen. This made Butters jump, and Colin finally looked up. "Sorry, I get so fixated on my reading sometime." Colin didn't even get angry at the fact his son interrupted his reading. "You wanted to talk?"

"Yeah, Nick told me that you would be willing to give me therapy."  
"That's right, Butters." Colin said, with a small smile. "I went ahead and read your file, so I already know about your circumstances, I understand that your parents are very strict to you."

"Yeah, I guess…" Butters admitted.

"And I also read that one of your friends like to use you for his own gain. Which one would that be?" Colin asked. Butters was scared to answer, he always said that he was best friends with Cartman, but in reality, he despised Cartman, but he was afraid of what Cartman would do to him if he stood up to him, the only time he did so was when Cartman was unconscious after Token beat him to a pulp after he said "Fuck Jesus", and he never said anything to Cartman. "Butters, I can't help you if you don't tell me who is messing with you."  
"It's Eric Cartman…" Butters said, under his breath.  
"I see…" To Butters surprise, Colin heard him. "You heard me?"  
"Yes, Butters," Colin answered. "I've been doing this for years, Butters, I practically had to train my ears to get any answers. So, tell me all that Cartman has done to you." Butters began to tell him everything that Cartman has done over the past years, and how some of his friends had either helped him or ignored him. Colin decided to play a song he felt that Butters could relate to. "Come here, Butters, I want you to listen to this song."

 _Tell me what's wrong with me_

 _My body, face, my hair_

 _Tell me all my many faults_

 _Tell me like you care_

 _When we both know you're cruel_

 _And we both know you're right_

 _I could listen to you, like a fool all night_

 _What's wrong with me?_

 _How I speak?_

 _How I dress?_

 _What's wrong with me?_

 _You keep me guessing_

 _Mama called me beautiful_

 _Don't believe them anymore_

 _Now I'm listening to you_

 _What do I do that for?_

 _Please don't ignore me_

 _Mmh, Mmh_

 _Tell me who we hate today_

 _And I will fall in line_

 _Hug me while my shoulders tense_

 _And we'll pretend we're fine_

 _Though we both know one day_

 _There'll be blood on the floor_

 _But which one will betray the other more_

 _What's wrong with me?_

 _Where's my mind_

 _Where does it end?_

 _Maybe I need to find a better friend_

 _What's wrong with me_

 _What can I do_

 _What's wrong with me_

 _Could it be you_

 _It's probably me_

 _See that,_ _you see_

 _What's wrong with me_ _  
Mmh, Mmh_

After the song was done, Colin continued to ask questions. "Would you say that this song captures your friendship with Cartman?" Butters nodded, Colin noticed that Butters was about to cry. "If you need to cry, don't be afraid to. Now, I can help give you the confidence to stand up to Cartman, but you're going to have to trust me.

"I have always been afraid of what Cartman would do to me, what if he hurts me or my friends, I just want to live a happy life."  
"And you have been, despite all of the pain you have been through, you always show up the next day smiling, that takes a lot of strength. You already have it within you, you just need to let it out."

"Do you really think that I can do it?" Butters asked.  
"Absolutely," Colin said. "And once you do, it will be like a huge weight will be lifted from your shoulders." Butter couldn't help but smile, Colin really did seem to genuinely care about his problems, and he thought that maybe with his help he could finally be truly happy.

While this was happening, Nick was preparing his meal. He grabbed the cookbook titled: _What's Inside:_ _Laura's Pie Recipes,_ his Mom's personal cookbook of multiple types of pies, she made this book so she could remember all of the pies she had ever made. She got inspired to write this after she watched the movie _Waitress,_ and listening to the musical cast recording. Nick and his Mom both loved that musical, and as a result, this book holds a special place in his heart. " _Make it work, make it easy, make it clever, craft it into pieces"_ Nick sang to himself. He was singing the first verse of "What Baking Can Do" from the musical version of Waitress, whenever he began to cook, he would usually sing verse of this song without thinking, it was just a habit that he did without thinking, and as he looked through the pages, he kept singing the song, until he finally found the perfect pie for the situation. "'Newberry Pie: A pie to celebrate the founding of new friends.' That'll work." And Nick began following the instructions bit by bit. And while he was cooking the pie, he heard the song "What's Wrong With Me" from the Mean Girls musical. "Seriously, Dad, I didn't think you would start that too." He just shrugged it off and continued cooking. After about 30 minutes of preparation, he put the pie in the oven, and went over to check his phone, he had just gotten a message from Stan. _"I am on why way now with Kyle and Kenny. Sorry, it took so long."_

 _Nick: Not a problem, I will see you soon."_

The timing couldn't have been more perfect, he figured that they would probably play games on his Nintendo Switch, and then he would perform his song, he would never admit this, but he was actually very excited to have some friends over, the only thing that could ruin was if Cartman came along. _"Cartman is not with you, is he? Cause if he is, I might have to kill him."_

 _Stan:_ _"Don't worry, he isn't with us. We're not against you killing Cartman now, I think Kyle would prefer that."_

 _Nick_ _"Oh, then I might do that, it would be fun to see him cower in fear"_

 _Stan: "As long as we get to watch."_

 _Nick: "In all seriousness, I am glad that you guys are okay with Butters coming along. I really do feel sorry for him."_

 _Stan: "Is that way you asked him to be friends?"_

 _Nick: "Partly, I did honestly want to be his friend, sympathy was just an add-on."_

 _Stan: "Ok, we'll talk more when we get there."_

 _Nick: "See you then."_

Nick put his phone in his pocket and headed upstairs. He looked inside his Dad's office, and he saw that the meeting is still going on. "I hate to interrupt, but Stan and others are going to be here soon."

"Is that so, well Butters, we'll have to continue this next week."

"Alrighty, thanks for the advice, Mr. Finn."

"You can just call me, Colin; I hate formalities."

"Okay, Colin." Butters said. And then they left the room, and they went towards Nick's room. Nick then went to grab his guitar and the sheet music. They then went back downstairs and put the guitar in a place where Stan and the others couldn't see it. Butters then noticed that the room smelled a lot fruitier. "What are you cooking, Nick?" Butters asked. "It smells good." Nick just smiled and responded, "You'll see."

A few minutes later, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny arrived at the house, and they saw that they had brought their own games with them. "Hey guys, I'm glad that you could come." Nick said.

"So are we." Kyle admitted. "This is a pretty nice place you guys got."

"Thanks, Kyle, so do you want to start by playing some Mario Kart?" Nick asked.

"That sounds good."

"I also have ARMS and a few other multiplayer games, and I also have a Wii U so we can play Smash Bros."

"Do you have any shooter games?" Kenny asked.  
"A few on the PS4." Nick said.  
"You have a PS4?" Stan asked. "I thought the XBox One won the console wars."

"Well, there are reasons to have both, the PS4 has some console exclusives like Uncharted 4, Until Dawn, and many others, while the Xbox One is backward compatible with the 360 and original XBox games, and it has the Rare Replay so we can play old Rareware games."

"I guess in hindsight that war was kinda stupid." Kyle admitted.

"Yeah, we really should've just gotten both." Kenny said.

"Are we gonna play games or not?" Nick asked.  
"Alright, who goes first?" Butters asked.

"You four can go ahead and start, I need to check on the food I'm cooking."

"I thought I smelled something delicious." Kenny said. "What are you cooking."

"You'll see, Kenny." Nick then headed towards the kitchen, and checked the pie, it looks like it needed to be in there for about 15 more minutes, he then set a timer and went back to the living room. "It will be ready in about 15 minutes, who's winning at the moment?" Nick looked at the screen and then looked at the four. "I am." Kenny answered.

"Alright, I have next game." Nick said. Once the match was done, Kyle gave his controller to Nick, and they began the next race. It was a pretty close race, but this time it was Stan who won, and they kept playing with controllers being swapped out every few races, with everyone having their wins and losses, and after about 15 minutes, the oven went off. That sounds like the oven, let's go ahead and eat. Everyone then went to the kitchen, and Nick got out the pie.

"Holy Moses." Kyle said.

"Holy mackerel." Stan said.

"Holy shit," Kenny said. "That looks good. Did you make that?"

"Yup, it's my Mom's old recipe." Nick answered.

"What's inside?" Butters asked.  
"My whole life is in here." Nick answered. "But in all seriousness, it's from my Mom's old recipe of pies, it's called the Newberry Pie."

"Well, what the hell are we waiting for?!" Kenny asked, impatiently. "Let's eat!"

"Let me cut the pie first." Nick said. He then started cutting the pie, and putting a slice of pie on everyone's plates, it didn't take long for Kenny to start digging in, and from his reactions, he really enjoyed it. "Oh my God, this is the most delicious pie I have ever tasted in my life." After that comment, Stan, Kyle, and Butters chowed down, and they were just as surprised with how delicious the pie was. "Holy shit, this pie is really good." Kyle said.

"I can't believe that it was you that cooked this." Butters said.

"My Mom can cook really well, but this gives her cooking a run of its money." Stan said.  
Nick was happy to hear that his cooking was well received. "Well, I had a good teacher." Nick said. The four of them noticed the melancholic expression on Nick's face. "You must've loved her really much." Butters said. Nick nodded in response. "Hey, do you have a picture of her?" Kyle asked. "Whenever I start missing a dead family member, I just look at a photo of them, and try to remember a time when they are alive."

"That's a good sentiment, but I think I would just start to miss her more…" Nick said.

"I'm sorry…" Kyle said, with a melancholic tone.

"It's fine, I haven't cried for her since she passed away." Nick said.

"I've never seen a kid that loves their parents the way you do." Kenny said.

"I love my friends and family, Kenny, I would give my life for them." Nick said, with a confident tone. "Are you serious?" Stan asked.  
"I saved Kenny, didn't I?" Nick pointed. "I can't stand seeing my friends suffer, call me anything you want, but that is just who I am."

"That's normal, Nick," Butters said. "There have been plenty of times where Stan helped Kyle through tough times, he even offered to give him his kidney when Kyle needed a kidney transplant."

"Yeah, and he saved me from that crazy Blaintologist cult." Kyle said.  
"Jesus, you guys are practically like brothers." Nick said. "You guys would go so far to die for each other."

"Yeah, especially after that one incident." Kyle began to say.

"Let's not talk about that, Kyle, that wasn't one of my best moments." Stan said.  
"Sorry, Stan," Kyle said. "But you must admit that our friendship has gotten better since than."

"Yeah it has, and I may not say it often, but I am really happy that you decided to stay my friend."

"Stan, it's clear that you aren't comfortable with whatever happened, so I won't press on it any further, but if you ever want to talk about it, just call me." Nick said. Stan saw that Nick was serious about his offer. While Stan wouldn't want to admit it, he thought that Nick was going to be all talk and no show, but when he looks at Nick's eyes, he sees a boy who had seen some shit, and someone who would never go back on his promises. "Thank you, Nick."

"Well that's enough melodrama, it's time for me to perform my song."

"Before you do that, there is still some pie left, is it alright if I take home the rest for my family?" Kenny asked.

"Let me just leave a piece for my Dad, and you can take the rest home to your family."

"Thanks man." Nick then sliced a piece, wrapped it up, and then put it in the fridge. He then wrapped up the rest of the pie, and handed it to Kenny. Nick then went to where he hid his guitar, he grabbed the sheet music, and he began to play.

 _If you knew my story you'd have a hard time  
Believing me, you'd think I was lying  
Joy and sorrow never last  
I'll die trying not to live in the past  
If you knew my story  
My heaven and my hell  
If you knew my story  
You'd have a good story to tell  
I left my clothes on that cold river rock  
My cares and my woes rolled up in my socks  
I lay down in that mountain stream  
And the icy water rushed over me  
If you knew my story  
My heaven and my hell  
If you knew my story  
You'd have a good story to tell  
Me I'm not alone  
Tell me I'm not alone  
Many backs have broken from lesser weight I know  
I was born to carry more than I can hold  
Even though I'll stumble  
Even though I'll fall  
You'll never see me crumble  
You'll never see me crawl  
If you knew my story  
Drew water from the well  
If you knew my story  
You'd have a good story to tell  
Me I'm not alone  
Tell me I'm not alone  
Even though I'll stumble  
Even though I'll fall  
You'll never see me crumble  
You'll never see me crawl  
If you knew my story_

After he was playing, he got applause from Butters, while Stan and the others just stood there in silence and shock with how good his performance was. "Geez, Kyle and I know how to play the guitar, and we can sing pretty well too, but it's nothing compared to you, dude." Stan said.  
"I have always been a good singer, but damn, I am surprised that no tried giving you a contract." Kenny said.  
"You guys are way too kind, but I honestly think that you're exaggerating. I am not that good guys, it's just something that I love to do."

"Maybe we should all sing and play together sometime." Butters said.

"That would be fun." Nick said. They then looked at the clock, and saw that it was now 6:00. "We still have time to hang out, let's play some more video games." Butters said.

"I'm down." Kyle said. They then went back to the living room, and they continued playing for what felt like an eternity.

* * *

 **That is Chapter 5, as of now, I have finished every season of South Park, and I have decided to make separate stories for the kids, with Butters being the first, then Kenny, then Kyle, then Stan. I was able to find a story for each of them, and I am looking forward to writing them. Be sure to leave constructive criticism, and if you guys want to submit fanart for this story, PM my account.**

 **Okay, so I accidently uploaded Chapter 4 again in the Chapter 5 slot, and no one told me that a chapter was being repeated. I guess I should say that if a chapter ever repeats itself, like Chapter 4 appearing twice in a row, I want you guys to tell me. I didn't notice my screwup until a few months after I uploaded what should've been Chapter 5.**


	6. Nick Meets Heidi

Nick rolled around in his bed, struggling to get back to sleep, lately, he has been obtaining the habit of waking up at around 5:30 in the morning, and whenever he wakes up, he can never get back to sleep. So, he reluctantly opened his eyes and checked his phone for the time. "Damn it," Nick said. The phone's clock did indeed say 5:30 in the morning. "I still got a few hours before school starts…" Nick said to himself. "Fuck it, I'm going out for a walk." This was how Nick dealt with his sleep problem, he would just go out for a walk. "Maybe I'll even stop by the park, while I'm at it." Nick wrote a note to his Dad saying what he was going out for a walk, and that he probably won't get home until after school. "Now he only has to worry about his own mouth to feed." Nick remarked. Nick then put on his gear and headed outside to cold winter morning. Nick didn't bother texting Butters or the others, he didn't want to wake them up, and they would probably be pissed off to no end if they got woken by a text. Butters would probably try to hide his frustrations, but even he would probably give a little bit of sass. As a result, he expected for it to be just him that was awake at this hour, but then he saw something strange, he saw a slightly overweight girl jogging; she wasn't sweating, indicating she had just started. She was wearing a lime green jacket, dark brown trousers, and red gloves, and she had a dull brown hair. Nick had recalled seeing this girl at school yesterday and happened to notice that she was eating vegan food, clueing him in that she was vegan. From that info alone, he was able to deduce that she has been trying to lose weight and seemed to be succeeding. It didn't take long for her to notice Nick, as he was the only other that was out this early, seeing that they had nothing better to do, they decided to approach each other. "What are you doing out so early?" She asked, calmly.

"I should be asking you the same thing." Nick responded.

"It's pretty damn obvious why I'm out here…" She retorted.  
"Ya got me there," Nick admitted. "I couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to go out for a walk."

"Do you have insomnia or something?" She asked.  
"Nah, just gave myself a habit of waking up early, and now I do it without even thinking." Nick explained.

"Oh, interesting." She said, in a clearly bored tone. "You're the new kid in town, Nicholas Finn, correct?"

"Yeah, that's right." Nick confirmed. "You must have seen me introduce myself at class yesterday. Well, you know my name, what's yours?"

"I'm Heidi Turner, it's nice to meet you." Heidi said with her hand outstretched. Nick shook the hand in response. "Heidi, I got nothing better to do, want to continue this conversation while we jog?" Nick asked. Heidi was surprised by the offer but decided to accept it anyway. "Sure, just don't get it in my way."

"Same to you." And they then began their jog, both did this a lot in their downtime and thus were able to keep up a steady pace the whole way through, only slowing down on occasion. During the jog, a multitude of conversations came up. "So, what else do you do besides jog early in the morning?" Nick asked.

"I hang out with my friends, judge what is considered cute and hot, and basically a bunch of girl stuff," Heidi answered. "Do you enjoy it?" Nick asked.

"Honestly, not as much as I used to."

"And why is that?"

"It's none of your business." Heidi responded.

"Oooh, now I am even more curious."

"You'd just call me a crazy idiot, that is what the girls do."

"You do realize that just made me even more curious, right?" Nick said, with a tiny smirk.

"Goddamnit!"

Nick was surprised by the sudden outburst, and as they kept running, he thought that he had seen a similar outburst before, but he couldn't place it. "I am going to guess you were in a toxic relationship." Nick guessed.

Heidi sighed. She was slightly embarrassed that her temper got out of control. "Yeah… you got it. I actually used to be a really nice girl, but then this troll bullied my Mom, and I quit social media, and then his stuff was destroyed, and I felt sorry for him, and so we got together."

Nick could figure out how the rest of the story went. "Let me guess, it went well for a while, great even, but then a sudden change happened, and he started victimizing himself to make you feel bad, and it went on and off for a while, but he would threaten suicide if you didn't get back together."

"Yeah, but it wasn't his fault, it was mine. I wanted to prove everyone wrong about him, so I let myself become the victim of his scheme until I became a clone of him, while I ignored the words of wisdom of someone who truly loved me, it got so bad, that someone told me that 'they wouldn't have the hots for the person I am now…' It was truly pathetic." From there, Nick had an idea who she dated. "You dated Eric Cartman." Heidi looked up at Nick with a bit of surprise. "When you mention the clone part, I figured there was only one person who could make you gain weight and give you a shitty personality," Nick said, bluntly.

"You're not going to call me crazy like the rest of them now?" Heidi asked.

"Naw…" Nick answered. "It seems to me that you are just trying to be yourself now, and your experience has shaped you into what you are now. What that is though, I can't tell just yet."

"I don't want to be like the person I was, but I also don't want to be a clone of Eric, what I want is to take what I learned and shape myself into a decent human being."

"That is big of you, Heidi." Nick said. "You mentioned that there was someone that truly loved you, was it your parents or was it one of the other boys?"

"I am so not telling you." Heidi said, smirking. "Aw, come on, I want to know." Nick pouted. "Well, that is just too bad."

"Can I guess at least?"

"Go ahead, but it's pretty damn obvious."

"Oh, so it was a boy." Nick said.  
"Yup, I'm just not gonna tell you who." Little did she know, he already knew the answer, but he didn't want to piss her off, so he decided to feign ignorance. "Well, damn it."

Heidi was enjoying talking to Nick, she could see why Stan, Kyle, and Kenny wanted to hang out with him. He was very analytical, but at the same time, he was very sarcastic in a very light way, while also having a good moral compass. She could see this kid being very popular with the girls, if there wasn't the whole drama going on, the drama had died down a little, but a few girls are still bitter about the whole troll thing, and Heidi got the feeling that when Nick hears about it, he is going to facepalm hard.

After jogging all the way to the church, they decided to rest in the park. "Hey, Nick, do you want my phone number?"

"Sure, just give me your phone." She gave Nick her phone and put his number in there, and likewise, Heidi did the same. "I heard your Dad is going to be the new therapist in town, and that Butters is his first patient."

"Yeah, that's right. It's a small town, so I'm not surprised word got around that quickly."

"He literally came over to my house to see if my parents were okay with it."

"Yeah, the mayor told him to do that, he wasn't comfortable doing that."

"I could tell, but he seems like a really smart and kind man."

"He's a great man, and I respect him a lot, it's thanks to him, my Mom, and my brother that I'm who I am today." Heidi noticed that Nick looked sad when he mentioned his Mom and brother. "What happened to them?"

Nick simply looked at Heidi, and said: "My Mom died when I was seven, and my brother went to join the army shortly after."

"Oh, I'm sorry…"

"Don't be, I might miss every day, but as long as I believe that they are still a part of me, I'll be fine."

"And your brother…?"

"He left after he got into an argument with my Dad," Nick explained. "They haven't really kept in touch, we talk from time to time, but he is pretty busy being out on the field and everything, last I heard he got married to a woman named Rose, and that was the last time Ed and Dad ever talked."

"That's terrible."

"Dad wants to try and make things up to him, but he doesn't know what to say, and as for Ed, I have no clue."  
"Well, they'll probably figure it out eventually."

"Yeah, it's only a matter of time."

Nick then looked at his clock, and saw that it was now 7:00. School was going to start in 15 minutes. "Shit, we better get going." Heidi looked at her phone, and nodded her head. "It's not that far of a run, want to race." Nick just smiled at Heidi and said, "You're on, but if I win you have to buy me lunch and tell me the boys name."

"I'll buy you lunch if you win, that's all, and if I win you have to do the same."  
"Well, what are waiting for? LET'S GO!"

* * *

 **And that is the end of this chapter, a little shorter than usual, but I really just wanted to not make this too long. Be sure to leave constructive criticism, and I only have two reviews, I want that number to rise a little bit. Until then, fare thee well.**


	7. This Had Better Come To A Stop

A few weeks have passed since Nick and Colin moved to South Park, and at this point, they have pretty much got themselves acquainted with the rest of the town. Nick hat met most of the kids in South Park and learned pretty much all that he could about them, and his opinion of them ranged from liking them a lot to indifference, to Eric Cartman. Nick really managed to show that he belonged in this town in a short amount of time, and all that it took was just simply joining the kids in their activities. Cartman decided to go back to playing D&D, much to the chagrin of the neighborhood, but nobody wanted to argue with him, so they decided to just go along with it. The kids did genuinely enjoy playing D&D, but they had just got back into playing superheroes and making a franchise plan, and they were annoyed that Cartman couldn't stick to one goddamn game. Nick had asked Stan and Kyle how the game went before going to Cartman, and they explained that it was a turn-based system like in actual D&D. "Why not have it be in real time?" Nick asked.  
"So Cartman actually has a chance to win a battle." Kyle answered.  
"Pussy…" Nick muttered.

"Nick, are you sure you want to play with Cartman's team?" Stan sked.

"I don't, but someone has to look out for Butters, maybe I can actually convince him to change sides." Stan and Kyle both looked at Nick with confusion. "Wait, are you planning on playing double agent?"

"Yeah, what that never happened before?"

"We've had betrayals in this game, but we only really had double agents when we were playing superheroes with the last New Kid." Stan answered.

"What class are you going to be?" Kyle asked.

"I prefer to fight a mix of up close and at a range, so I think I will try a multiclass of Rogue and Fighter. Cartman will complain, but he will just have to suck it up. I don't really care what race I am, what I care about is making sure that Butters doesn't get hurt."

Butters had been going to Colin for therapy almost every day for the last few weeks, and has shown some improvement in his attitude. While all of the others haven't noticed a thing, Nick had noticed that Butters has been less nervous to hang out late, and that he has been more attentive to the people around him. Butters probably hasn't even noticed it himself. However, he still gets nervous around his father and Cartman, and Nick feels like he has to protect Butters from him. "You know, you could just say that you're a fighter, and when the time comes, you can stab him the back like a rogue, revealing that not only were you a secret double agent, but that you have been multiclassing." Kyle pointed out.  
Nick looked at Kyle with surprise, he didn't even think about that, it would definitely be easier to get inside, and it would be funny as hell to see Cartman's reaction when the truth was revealed. Nick smiled. "I like that idea, Kyle, now I can see why you were chosen as the leader of the elves. I can't wait to be done with Cartman so I can be with the winning team."

"And maybe we can get another Ranger and a Paladin on our side." Kyle pointed out.

"That's right, Kenny isn't playing the princess anymore." Stan said. Nick looked at Stan confused. "Say what now?"

"During the Black Friday sale and our game with the Stick of Truth, Kenny played as the Princess character."

"Is Kenny...?" Nick began to ask.

"No, he isn't gay, but he is very perverted and has a lot of knowledge when it comes to sex." Kyle said.

"Shit dude, he was excited when he learned that his ex-girlfriend was a slut if it meant a guaranteed blowjob." Stan explained. Nick couldn't help but laugh at this statement. "I am not surprised by the that, but at the same time, am completely bewildered by that reaction. Only Kenny would be excited to learn that his girlfriend is a slut."

"And you're going to be working with him." Stan said.

"Huh, really? Why?" Nick asked.

"Well, it's the same reason you're joining, because he feels sorry for Butters, in the past, it would've been because he felt sorry for Cartman, but nowadays, he just tries to go a day without kicking his ass for making a poor joke." Kyle explained.  
"Well, it's good to know I have an ally in this." Nick said, smiling.

"Kenny is definitely a reliable one." Stan stated.  
"Well, I am going to get my costume ready. I will see you guys around." And thus Nick began to walk on home, while Stan and Kyle stayed where they are. "You should talk to him and Colin." Stan said.

"What do you mean?" Kyle asked, confused by the comment. "About what?"

"About how to make up for nuking Canada and getting Ike to forgive you." Stan answered.  
"Stan, you know I have been trying to get Ike to forgive ever since that incident."

"Yeah, and he is pissed off!" Stan stated. "Look, I'm sure that Ike still loves you, and I'm pretty sure he knows that you realized that you were acting like your Mom."

"I don't know, Stan…" Kyle said, trying not to lash out at his friend. "Ike doesn't even talk to me that much, I have no idea what he is thinking. I get it now that I was a fool for thinking that vulgar television was the cause of bullying and people being jerks. I get it now that I was just sad about Heidi, but that doesn't excuse me for what I did, Stan…" Stan looked at Kyle in utter silence. "I feel like that when that time of year roles around, people are going to be reminded by the event, and start treating me like shit."

"Well, I won't…" Stan said. "And neither will Kenny or Nick, whatever happens, Kyle, we will always be here to help you. We may give each other shit, but we've been friends for so long, we're practically required by law."

"You got that right…" Kyle said. "Thanks, Stan…"

"Not a problem, Kyle." Stan and Kyle then went off towards their houses so they could get ready for the game, both ready to fight by each other's side.

Meanwhile, at Butters house. Butters was getting his old Paladin outfit out, and putting it on. However, before he could finish putting it on, his father called him down. "BUTTERS!" Stephen shouted. "Get down here or I'll ground you!"

"Yes, sir!" Butters responded, as he quickly ran down stairs with half of his Paladin outfit. When he got down, he noticed that Stephen look really furious. Linda, as usual, just sat in the living room watching TV minding her own business. Butters couldn't help but shake in fear. "W-What is it, sir?"

"Don't think I haven't notice you avoiding me, son." Stephen said. "You have been going to that Therapist's house a lot lately."

"W-Well, you see, I have been going there for therapy sessions." Butters said, still shaking from fear. "You did say it was okay to have them, right?"

"I did, but that doesn't mean you can completely avoid your father," Stephen said. "Your responsible for how you behave, and you have been misbehaving by not being home as often as possible."

"You've never said that I had to immediately come home after school." Butters argued. He then put his hands on his mouth, he had rarely talked back to his Dad. "Besides, Colin's sessions have been helping me a lot, and they actually like having me around."

"Don't you argue with me son!" Stephen shouted, causing Butters to flinch.

"I am not arguing with you, Dad!" Butters yelled back. "I am just stating a fact, Colin and Nick have given me confidence that I never even knew I had." It was at that moment, that Butters realized just how much they had been helping him, he had only had the courage to stand up to his father when he felt like he was ungroundable, like say in his imagination, being a vampire, or being in a virtual world. "Butters, I won't ground you this time, but this change had better come to a stop." Stephen said, firmly. Butters didn't respond, he couldn't risk having his Dad forbid him from seeing his friends, so he just nodded, put the rest of his outfit on, and exited his house. He then began walking towards Cartman's house. _"I hope that Nick and Kenny are there by now."_

At Cartman's house, Nick and Kenny were in his backyard getting their equipment set up. Nick wanted to take this opportunity to get to know Kenny. "So, I heard that last time you played this game, you played as the Princess." Nick said.

"Yeah, don't ask why, I don't even remember why I dressed as a girl... it just sorta turned into this big game." Kenny said, muffled.

"You know, Kenny, I don't think I have ever seen you without your hood on." Nick said. "Is there a reason?"

"Not really, I just don't have a lot of clothes, and I am very attached to this parka." Kenny responded. "You see, most babies when there born get wrapped in a blanket of some sort, not me… I was wrapped in this parka the day I was born, and when I turned eight, my Mom and Dad gave it me and I had been wearing it ever since, so you see, it kind of has a lot of sentimental value." Nick couldn't help but smile at Kenny. "What the fuck are you smiling about? It's not that big of a deal." Nick then laughed at Kenny's statement. "And now you're laughing?! Jesus, and I thought Cartman was weird."

"Sorry," Nick said. "I just didn't think of you as a sentimental type."

"Well, I guess I am just full of surprises."

"I'll say. I was surprised when Kyle and Stan told me that you were going to be on Cartman's team.' Nick said. "They then told me that it was because you felt sorry for Butters."

"Yeah, Butters may be a little bit annoying, but I am the closest thing he has to a friend." Kenny stated. "Now, I will say that I do enjoy hanging out with him when I actually get the chance, but it's hard to have fun with him when he is constantly worried about what his parents will do, when he should be worried about what Cartman will do."

"Seems to me that you really care about Butters."

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"Why, though?" Kenny looked directly at Nick, and responded, "Because he reminds of me of my sister, Karen. They are both so innocent and kind that I feel like I have to shield them from the horrors of the world."

"That's very noble of you, Kenny." Nick said, with a concerned expression. "But you know full well that you can't protect them forever, especially Butters…"

"Nick, I want to ask you something…" Kenny then gave Nick his evil eye, and he asked in his deep serious voice. "What kind of game are you playing?"

Nick was surprised to hear how deep Kenny's voice could get, out of the five of them, Kenny's had the highest pitched voice, so hearing deepen his voice almost scared Nick. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why are you so obsessed with helping Butters? Don't get me wrong, I want to believe that you have noble reasons, but I have seen countless times that people who seem to be nice, only want something in return. Do you really feel sorry for Butters, or are you just using him for your gain like everyone else in this town?"

Nick looked at Kenny with an edge of seriousness. "Kenny, I do feel sorry for Butters, and I would never use him just to get something in return."

"Why…? Why are you so damn focused on helping someone you barely know?!" Kenny yelled.

"Because I made a promise to my friend that I would never run away from a friends problem again!"

"But you decided to help him only a couple days after you met him!" Kenny responded.

"I couldn't just run away from someone who clearly needed my help, Kenny!" Nick angrily, shouted. "My friend was in trouble, and I only did what I thought I could do to help, and it wasn't enough. So, before I left, I promised him that I would never run away again, no matter how hard it is for me, or how much that person is suffering, I would be there for them." Kenny looked at Nick with a perplexed look. He then started to laugh. "Why the fuck are you laughing?" Nick asked, annoyed. "Glad to see I was right about you," Kenny said.

"You were testing me?!" Nick asked.

"Yup, I wanted to see if you were legit or not," Kenny responded. "Now I see that you're just going to stick your nose into someone's business even if they tell you to fuck off."

"Yeah, that's me." Nick said.

"It's probably going to annoy a lot of people."

"I know, but if it helps them out in the long run, then it's worth it."

"I think you and I are going to get along smoothly." Kenny said, with his hand outstretched. Nick took his hand and gave it a shake. "I agree, Kenny."

They then went back to getting their equipment ready, but Nick quickly realized that all that he had learned about Kenny was that he was a pervert with a heart of gold, so he decided to talk to him some more. "So, Kenny," Nick said. "I just now realized that I have never seen your face without your hood on, any reason for that?"

"No, not really. I just like to annoy people with my muffled voice." Kenny said. "Plus, I can say some dirty shit, and only a few people would understand me." Nick couldn't help but snicker in response. "So, you're a player, got it."  
"No, I just like to fuck with people's heads."

"You like to fuck heads?" Nick joked. "That's not healthy I think you should see a doctor about that."

"But it's so much fun, don't knock it till you try it." They both laughed at their poor taste joke, and that was when Kenny decided to take off his hood, so Nick could see what he looked like. It was almost a surprise for Nick. "Wow, wasn't expecting that."

"Yup, this is what I look like, a dirty, blonde haired kid." Kenny responded. "Were you expecting me to be the Phantom of the Opera?"

"Well, I did hear that you have the greatest singing voice in town." Nick said.

"Where did you hear that from?"

"Butters." Nick answered.  
"Well, he might be a bit biased, but I do have some opera training, so I can sing pretty well."

"We should sing together sometime, that would be fun!"

"Yeah, but then everyone in town will think that we're gay, and the Asian kids will start to draw fanart of us," Kenny said. "They've already drawn fan art of Tweek and Craig fucking, I don't think I want to be next."

"While I don't give a shit, as long as I am having fun with friends."

"Oh, they will draw you having fun alright." Nick then threw a snowball at Kenny. "Ow!"

"Perv!"

"Oh come on, you're just as dirty minded as me," Kenny said, throwing a snowball in retaliation. Nick wiped the snowball off of his face. "You're not wrong." Nick said, smirking. Nick then got a good long look at Kenny's face; he wasn't wrong, it certainly was dirty, but it also had a certain handsome look to it. Nick wasn't gay, but he could admit when a guy was attractive or not, he was actually kinda surprised that Kenny wasn't a lady killer. "This may sound weird coming from a straight guy, but you are strangely attractive."  
"Woah, Nick, don't start falling for me now, I only like tits." Kenny jokes.

"I did say I was straight, didn't I?" Nick sarcastically responded. "In all seriousness, I am kinda surprised that the girls aren't after you."

"I've had a couple of girlfriends, but it didn't really work out. One was long distance, and the other I was using to get a blowjob."

"I knew about the blowjob scenario, did not know about the long distance one."

"Yeah, I was eight, and I just couldn't make it work."

"That sucks, I have had a few girls confess to me, but I just don't think I am ready for a relationship yet, I want to find the right girl for me."  
"That girl wouldn't happen to be Heidi Turner would it?" Kenny said, smirking.

"I've seen the way you look at her, you totally have a crush on her."

"Kenny shut up!" Nick said, embarrassed. "I don't want her, Kyle, or Cartman to hear."

"Sorry man, I was just joking," Kenny said, with guilt. "Wait, I can understand Heidi and Cartman, but why Kyle?"

"She has a crush on Kyle, haven't you noticed?"

"No, I mean, they did date for a little bit, but she went back to Cartman soon after."

"She told me that she feels guilty for hurting the one who truly loved her, and on the first day I met you all, Cartman bragged about making his Heidi break up with Kyle."

"Oh, yeah I guess it's pretty obvious now that I think about it," Kenny said. "But what about Kyle?"

"I don't know yet."

"Well, it's not our business," Kenny said. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your crush."  
"Thanks, Kenny." Nick smiled.  
"Not a problem." It was at that moment that Nick heard his notification sound on his phone. He picked it up, it was a message from Butters: _"Are you at Cartman's yet, I don't want to go in until you and Kenny are here."_

"Butter's is here, we better go get him, he doesn't want to see Cartman." Nick explained.  
"That's new," Kenny said. "Usually he gets along with Cartman, I guess those therapy sessions are helping more than I thought."

They then went to the door, and let Butters in. "Yes, we are at Cartman's."

"I see that now," Butters said, smiling. "Sorry if I am late, I had an argument with Dad before I left."

Kenny noticed that 'argument' and 'Dad' were in the same sentence. "You had an argument with Steven?"

"Yeah, he was angry that I had been going to Nick's house after school."

"Even though you are going to his house for therapy?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah, I even told him that he was the who was okay with it," Butters answered. "I even told him that they are giving me a confidence I didn't even know I had. I didn't even notice until that argument."

"Good for you, Butters!" Nick said.

"Yeah, but he noticed that change too, and told me that it had better come to a stop."

"Fuck him!" Kenny shouted. "If he thinks that this change isn't good, then fuck him!"

"Kenny, calm down."

It was at that moment that Cartman came down from his room.  
"Jesus, Kenny, since when did you get to be so fucking loud?" Cartman then noticed that Butters was now here. "Oh good, Butters is here, can I ask you for a favor?"  
"Why do you need, Butters? If you needed help, you could've asked me or Kenny." Nick said, suspicious.

"Because I don't need you, Douchebag."

"My name is Nick, Eric," Nick said. "If we're going to be playing together, I expect you to be using my real name."

"UGH, fine! Because I don't need you, NICK! That better?" Cartman asked, sarcastically.

"Yes, thank you, Eric."

"Anyway, Butters it's something that only you can do."

"Eric, can it wait?" Butters asked. "I really just want to have fun right now, I just had an argument with my Dad, and I really am not in the mood to do your chores, whatever it is, it can wait until after we are done playing." Kenny noticed that Cartman was annoyed, and he was expecting him to start whining, but instead, Cartman silently agreed to wait, it was unlike him to give up that easily.

"Alright, let's get outside, everyone should be here soon." Cartman said.  
"What the fuck took you so long, Eric? Were you busy fucking that Antonio Banderas dol?" Kenny asked.

"NO, KENNY I WASN'T! Cartman shouted. "Let's just get everything ready, Nick if you're going to be a fighter you have to follow everything I say."

"Fuck that, just because you're the Wizard King, that doesn't mean I am going to follow your orders, I am only here because Butters is here."

"Nick, let me explain this in a way that you can understand." Cartman said, trying to sound threatening. "If you are going to play with me, you have to be loyal to me and follow my orders."

"And let me explain this to you, I am loyal to my friends, not to some kid who thinks that the world owes him a favor." They all expected Cartman to argue with Nick until everyone got here, but instead, Cartman backed down. "Fine, I've seen your stats, and you're a valuable asset to me, so I'll give you the freedom to do what you please, but if you ever betray me, it will not end well for you."

Nick looked at Cartman with surprise and contempt, but Nick silently agreed to this arrangement, and they all got back to making their own equipment, but before Nick got started, he texted Colin about the argument Butters had, so that he could follow up on it.

Around this time, Colin got the text that Nick sent, and he decided to follow up on it. He went next door to Butters house, and knocked on the door. And it was Linda that answered. "Oh, Colin, it's good to see you, why are you here?" Colin showed Linda the text that Nick sent. "I am here to follow up on this."

"I see…" Linda said, silently. "Come inside. I was about to take a bath, and Stephen is in town with a friend."

"Thank you, Linda, I will just take a seat in the kitchen." Colin did what he said he would. "I wanted to question both of you, so I'll wait until Stephen gets back."

"Oh, that might be for a while, so I'll just take a bath, and I'll gladly answer them until Stephen gets here." Colin decided that this would be better, so he agreed to this arrangement, and waited until Linda got upstairs. Once he heard the water running, that was when he decided to take a look around the house. "I can't believe how easy it was to get inside." Colin then decided to go upstairs, making sure that Linda couldn't hear him. _"I should look in Butter's room first, there is bound to be something there."_ Colin knew that the only way to gauge how bad the abuse is, is to look around the house. Nick didn't mention anything odd about his room, but he could've just missed something. Colin looked around the room, and he noticed that there was a security lock that could only be opened on the outside. "Well, this is interesting…" Colin said, silently. Colin then looked up, and saw that the only way to open on the inside was to destroy the wire panel. "If this was to be used to keep Butters safe, the lock would be on the inside, not the outside." Colin noted. "This is good, but it can easily be countered, I need to look for more." Colin then looked inside Stephen and Linda's room, and the first thing he noticed was a safe that could only be opened with a code, but he also saw a wire panel, Colin knew that the only way to open it was to disconnect the wiring without destroying the wires. "I never thought I would have to use my old techniques for a patient." Colin said to himself. Colin opened the panel, and carefully disconnected the wires, he knew he succeeded when he heard the safe beep. Colin quickly looked in the safe, and what he saw was pretty bewildering. It was a picture of Stephen "wrestling" with another dude. There were other photos of him with different dudes, but there was also pictures of him with his wife. "Looks like someone is sexually active on both fronts." Colin noted. "This is… weird, but not exactly evidence." He then looked inside the safe, of what seemed to be a confession that was filmed by the local station. The contents of the film said that Stephen had been "wrestling" with a bunch of dudes at a "gym", and that when Linda found out, she went crazy and tried to kill Butters. This had Colin perplexed, they literally admitted that Linda tried to kill her son, and that they tried to hide it, this should've put both of them in jail, but then he remembered that the authority in this world are idiots. "In another world, I wouldn't even be doing this investigation because they'd be in jail." Colin said to himself. Colin decided to continue looking around the house, going downstairs to look around there. "I guess I'll check the basement." He then opened the door to the basement, and was horrified by what he saw, it was like a torture dungeon, there was no torture equipment, but there was chain and shackles that were clearly meant for kids considering the size of the shackle. "Well, son of a bitch." Now all he needed was Butters testimony to get him out of this house. "Now to see what these two have to say."

After about 30 minutes, Linda got out of the bath, and went downstairs to get questions from Colin. She didn't notice the change in his behaviour. "Alright, what is it you wanted to talk about."

Colin secretly started to record their conversation. "My son informed me about the argument, what was it about?"

"Oh, it was nothing terrible, just Stephen warning Butters that if he doesn't start coming home immediately after school, that he will be grounded."

"Strange, didn't you two agree to have his sessions _after_ school."

"We did, didn't we?" Linda asked, now realizing that these questions are about to turn into an interrogation. "Linda, is there something that Stephen or Butters did that may have made you do stuff you would otherwise never do?" Colin asked.

Linda could tell that Colin already knew about Stephen's affairs. "Yes, I did try to kill Butters, but I was in a state of insanity. I had just learned that Stephen had been cheating on me with different dudes, and I just couldn't take it."

Colin could tell that Linda felt guilty about what she did, but insane or not, she still tried to kill Butters. "Colin, just cut to the chase, I already know you know." Linda said.

"Is Stephen out with his "friends" again?"

"Yes, he goes out at least once a month just to get his fixed. We usually have sex a week later."

"Alright, when will he be back."

"Soon."

"Alright, when he gets here I am just going to cut to the chase."

"Fine…" Linda said, in a melancholic tone.

"Linda, I can tell that you care about Butters, but you clearly don't know what's best for him." Colin said. "If you truly wants what is best for him you would've sent to some relatives or to a family that would raise him right."

"But we're just trying to discipline him." Linda rebutted.

"Grounding him for the most small reasons isn't going to make him a better individual, it's not going to teach him right from wrong. Linda, do you honestly believe what you're doing is right."

Linda looked at Colin with sad eyes. "I don't know, I just follow whatever Stephen says, we may have our issues but we love each other, and I just can't say no to him." Colin could tell that Linda was question the way they were raising Butters, so he decided to get out a piece of paper.

"Here Linda, I want you to take this." Colin gave Linda the sheet of paper, she gave the paper a quick read, and quickly saw the words "Adoption" on the paper. "This is a permission for adoption." Linda said, as she realized what Colin was saying. "Are you saying that you want to adopt Butters?"

"I technically need signatures from both parents, but there is no way I can convince Stephen, but maybe you can."

"Stephen would never agree to this, even if I brought it up, he would argue that we are raising Butters fine."

"Then I guess I will have to take it in court."

"The people here are idiots, they didn't even take me in for attempting to murder Butters."

"That is why I am giving you one week to sing that paper, if you don't sign it by then, I will bring it to court." Linda just sat there silently, and as if on cue. Stephen got home. "Linda, I'm home." Stephen immediately noticed that Colin was here. "Why are you here?"

"I'm just going to cut to the chase, the way you're treating Butters, it's got to stop."

"How dare you? I am giving Butters just punishment for his behavior."

"Just?! You grounded him for making a funny face on the year book, which wasn't even a funny face, his hair was just sticking up!"

"He kept making that face!"

"No, you just grounded him because you hate the way he looks."

"He said terrible things on the phone to us!"  
"That was Eric Cartman, it's bad enough that you can't tell the voice of your own son."

"And you could?!"

Colin then went into detail about his son's voice, from talking, to whispering, to even singing. Stephen just stood there in silence, he had no counter to this, Stephen instead went to a different argument. "What gives you the right to question my parenting?! You're just a therapist!"

"A therapist who knows when his patients need him. I know everything about you're affairs, and how your wife tried to murder your son! Your son already has to deal with bullying from some of the kids, and it also doesn't help that his father is an ignorant jackass, and that his mother is too afraid to distinguish what is right for the boy!"

"Get out!" Stephen yelled. "Or you're going to get it."

"As much as Colin really wanted to attack Stephen he couldn't afford to use violence in this situation."  
"I was about to leave anyway!" Colin then went to the exit, and slammed the door as hard as he could. As he left the houses vicinity, he overheard Stephen yelling, "THAT FUCKING ASSHOLE, WHAT GIVES HIM THE RIGHT TO QUESTION MY PARENTING, THE PARENTING THAT MY OWN PARENTS GAVE ME, HE THINKS HE KNOWS ABOUT EVERYTHING DOESN'T HE!" Stephen was fucking livid, Colin knew that he was likely to go to Cartman's house, and pick up Butters with that same livid attitude, afraid of how he would react, he decided to warn Nick about Stephen: _"Butters Dad is coming, and he is not happy. Warn Butters before he gets there."_

It didn't take long for Nick to respond. " _We're not at Cartman's house, we're actually near Jimmy's house, he is one of the crippled kids, the one with the stutter."_

 _Colin: I know him, okay, just try to prepare him for the worst."_

Nick responded _"I will",_ and Colin headed on home.

After Nick put his phone away, it didn't take long for Cartman to notice what he was doing. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, NICK!? WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLE!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, don't get your panties in a twist." Nick said, as he quickly disarmed the enemy team. "Butters, my Dad went to question your parents, and your Dad is livid."

"Oh god, what did he do?" Butters asked, as he broke an elves defense.  
"I don't know he failed to mention that."

"Don't worry, Nick and I got your back." Kenny assured, as he shot one of the elves with an arrow.

"Yeah, I don't care how mad he is, I won't turn my back on you." Nick said, as he blocked and oncoming attack.

"Well, we better get back to Cartman's." Kenny said, as he made his way to exit.

"Butters, if you're going to leave now, I will just text you what I need you for." Cartman said. And they all left Jimmy's yard, and made there way to Cartman's house. When they got there, they snuck to the backyard, and climbed over the fence. "Good, he's not here yet." Kenny said.  
"Come on, get your stuff ready." Nick said. "Are you going to help Cartman with whatever he needs help with."

"I guess, I mean how awful could it be, I mean he seemed genuine enough." Butters said.

"I don't know, Butters, I don't trust him." Kenny said. "He never lets anyone win an argument, so whatever it is, it's probably pretty bad."

"Oh come on, he's my friend, he hasn't messed with me in a while."  
"True, but I want you to be careful." Kenny said.

"I will, Kenny, don't worry." Despite Butters saying that he will be okay, both Nick and Kenny were worried nonetheless. "Knowing him, it's probably a way to earn money, and if it is, I think I will use it to run away." This statement shocked Kenny and Nick. "Run away?!" Nick asked. "Butters, I know your home life isn't good, but running away isn't the answer."

"Maybe you're right, but I don't see any other way."

"Colin probably does though, I mean he went to your house for a reason."

"I said I might, honestly, I don't have a lot of places to go, but I am just so tired of being grounded for no reason."

"Well, I ask that you don't make such a rash decision." Nick said. "Whatever my Dad has planned will probably work out more in the long run."

"True, alright, I'll hold out on making a decision."

"Thanks, Butters." Nick said.

At that moment, Kenny saw that Liane had let Stephen in the house to get Butters.

"Bad news, Stephen is here." Kenny said.

"Well, time to face the music." Nick said, but Kenny stopped him before he could enter the house. "No, you hide in the Cartman's tent, and I will go with Butters."

"Why?" Nick asked. "I said, I would never turn my back on him."  
"If he is mad as you say he is, then we can't have you be seen with Butters, he might ground him for just being with you, even if I am there. This way, he has a chance of getting unscathed." Nick knew that Kenny had point, so, with much reluctance, he decided to let Kenny handle Stephen on his own.

Kenny and Butters entered from the back door, and it didn't take long for him to notice them. "Butters, get your ass over here, we're heading home."

"Calm down, Stephen, you don't have any reason for getting mad at him." Kenny said, calmly.

"Don't worry, Kenny, I think Dad is just mad that I argued with him this morning." Butters stated.

"Believe me, I am, but I am also mad at that Colin man."

"Yeah, yeah, look are you going to take Butters home or are you going to sit on the couch and complain?" Kenny asked.  
"I am going to take this troublemaker home and then complain on my own couch." Stephen answered.

"How the hell is he a troublemaker?" Kenny asked.

"He constantly does stuff that annoy me and his mother."

"Again, how is he a troublemaker?" Kenny asked. Stephen then went on to explain all of the horrible stuff that he did, however, Kenny knew better because he was there for most of those events, and he knew that it was Cartman who was involved for those events. Kenny signaled Butters to run while he could, and Butters snuck out of Cartman's house, and ran towards his own house, and went to hide in his room, and pretended to fall asleep. "You just don't understand, do you, Stephen?" Kenny asked.

"I'm sorry, but he is my son, and I think I know him better than you do."

"No, you don't know this kid. You don't know a damn thing about him, you come here with these stories of events that weren't even his fault, and you say know him because he is your son?! Hah, he is probably the most honest and innocent kid in this town, and you don't even know that much about him, and you never will, not from, not from anyone that knows him, not a clue…" Kenny then turned his back on the bewildered Stephen. "I have nothing more to say to you."

Stephen finally noticed that Butters had already gone home, and exited the house. "You can come out, Nick." Nick then entered from the back door, and had a shocked expression on his face. "I wasn't expecting you to quote Parade." Nick said.

"Hey, you're not the only one who knows his musicals." Kenny said. "Hey, is it alright If I come over to spend the night?"

"Sure, my Dad should be fine with it, and besides I want to discuss with you what Cartman might have planned anyway."

"Yeah, I am kinda tired of playing D&D anyway."

"Well, let's get going. Whatever Cartman has planned can't be good." Nick said, as they leave the house. Little did they know, is that Cartman's plan was a lot more devious than what they had in mind.

* * *

 **And that is the end of this chapter, sorry for how long it was, I had so many ideas and I didn't want to separate it into multiple chapters. As usual don't be afraid to send in constructive criticism, I actually would appreciate it, and I giving you guys permission to draw fanart for this story. As long as it isn't risque, and if you want to, you can send it to me at southparkfan658 or, if you can send it to me through the private messaging system on the site as a pdf.**


	8. What Is Cartman's Plan

Butters had arrived home and saw that his Mom was waiting in the living room. She was holding the piece of paper Colin had given to her. Butters didn't realize what the paper was, mainly because he couldn't see what it says, so he couldn't tell that his Mom was thinking. "Hey Mom, I'm home." Butters said, trying to fake a smile.

"Oh, hey sweetie," Linda said. "You're father went to get you, where is he?"

"I went on ahead of him, he was busy talking to...someone, and I decided to just head on home." Butters admitted without throwing Kenny or Nick under the bus. "I heard Nick's Dad came over to talk, what was it about?"  
"Oh, nothing much…" Linda lied. "You should go to your room before Daddy gets home, I'll tell him that you went to sleep."

"Ok." Butters then went to up to his room and closed his door. There was still light out, so he decided to get on his computer and look up where the cheapest motels were in case he decided to run away. "Oooh, this one sounds good." Butters clicked on a three-star motel, the website showed a run of the mill motel, it had free wifi and cable, and was pretty cheap to stay at for a night. Butters then put the name of the motel on his notes app. After that, he decided to finally ask Cartman what he needed him for.

 _Butters: Hey Eric, I am home now. What is it you needed me for?_

 _Eric: You still have that Marjorine outfit?_

Cartman went straight to the point, Butters decided to look in his closet, and after a bit of digging, was able to find the outfit he wore when he disguised as a girl.

 _Butters: Yeah, I still have it._

 _Cartman: Good, I want you to bring it. I need you to wear it for the secret operation I am running.  
Butters: What is the secret operation, and does it involve money?_

 _Cartman: I can't tell you now. I will tell you more tonight._

 _Butters: I am going to have to sneak out, Eric, we better be home before my parents realize I'm gone._

 _Cartman: I wouldn't worry about that, Butters._

Butters then put his phone away. He then decided to pack a bag of clothes, some handheld gaming devices, chargers, and whatever money he had. Butters still hadn't made his final decision on whether or not to run away, but he wanted to be ready when he finally makes his decision.

Meanwhile, Cartman was looking around his Mom's purse for money. Normally, he would ask her for money, but lately, she hadn't been so eager to follow his every command, she will still do what he wants from time to time, but not as often as she used to. "Dammit, where does that bitch keep her fucking money!" Cartman said, quietly. He then heard a _meow_ come from the counter. "Dammit, Mr. Kitty, I am not going to feed you, I am trying to find where my Mom keeps her money!" Cartman continued looking for money, and after about a minute of looking, he finally found where Liane kept her money. He quickly grabbed 50 bucks and closed the purse so his Mom wouldn't suspect a thing. He then headed out of his house and headed to the Peppermint Hippo, when he arrived, he saw two people who looked like they were soldiers. "Alright, I brought the 50 bucks." Cartman said.  
"Sorry, kid, it's only for people who are military."

Cartman saw a flier in one of the alleys advertising a certain type of event, he did his research and saw an opportunity to not only embarrass Butters but to get a lot of money in the process. As far as he knew, the cops didn't know about this, and while they might be stupid, they wouldn't exactly stand by and let this event happen. "You know, I know everything about what you're doing, I could put an end to all of this by just informing them."

"Go ahead, the cops won't care."

"They will if it comes from a molested little boy…" Cartman said, smirking evilly. "You seem pretty young, it would suck if you couldn't continue to serve if it got out that you assaulted an innocent little boy."

"You wouldn't dare.." One of the soldiers said. Cartman then got out a pair of underpants and covered in some snow. Cartman may not know a lot about sex education, but he knew enough to manipulate people. "What do you think now?"

"Alright, you're in, but good luck finding a girl to go with you."

"Oh, that will be a lot easier than you think!" Cartman turned around, and headed straight home, but little did he know was that someone saw him. "What was Cartman doing over there with those soldiers?" It was Kyle, his family was just coming out of the Buca De Faggoncini and were on there way home. Normally, Kyle wouldn't think anything of the soldiers, but if Cartman was involved in some way, he couldn't help but worry. So he decided to text Stan about it.

 _Kyle: I saw Cartman talking to some soldiers, what do you think that was about?_

 _Stan: Idk, this is Cartman we're talking about, so it can't be good._

 _Kyle: I know, it also doesn't help that it was at the Peppermint Hippo._

 _Stan: Yeah, he is definitely plotting something._

 _Kyle: Well, whatever it is, I want nothing to do with it."_

 _Stan: Same here._

 _Kyle: Anyway, have fun with your date with Wendy._

 _Stan: Thanks man, I will try._

 _Kyle: See you later, man,_

And with that, Kyle put his phone away, and he continued his walk towards home.

Meanwhile, Nick and Kenny had just got back from Cartman's house. "Hey Dad, I'm home, and I brought a friend over!" Nick shouted out, happy that Kenny wanted to stick around.

"Who is it?" Colin asked, his voice coming from the kitchen. He was just sitting there lost in thought, wondering if Linda was going to sign that paper or not.

"It's Kenny Mccormick." Nick answered, walking into the kitchen, with Kenny in tow.

"Hey there, I don't think we've met." Kenny said.

"I know of you, you were here a few weeks ago with Stan, Kyle, and Butters," Colin said. "I was upstairs in my office, so I didn't have time to introduce myself, but I did read all of the files on you, your friends, and your families."

"Oh, so you know that my family is the poorest in town." Kenny stated.

"Yeah, I do," Colin responded. "Your Mom, Carol works at an Olive Garden washing dishes, and only gets paid slightly above minimum wage, while your Dad, Stuart, doesn't have and hold a job."

"Yeah, yeah, and my Mom and Dad are alcoholics and drug addicts, what else is new?" Kenny asked, sarcastically. "They aren't abusive, and Mom has done a decent job raising me and my siblings, or at least me and Karen."

"Yeah, I couldn't find much on your brother, Kevin," Colin admitted. "He doesn't seem to have that much of a personality."

"He cares about me and Karen, but the chances of him going to college are slim to none." Kenny admitted.

"Anyway, shall we change the topic?" Nick asked.

"Gladly." Colin and Kenny answered.

"So Kenny, did you bring some spare clothes?" Colin asked.

"Nope, what you see is what you get." Kenny answered. "We can barely afford new clothes."

"Well, I'm pretty sure Nick would gladly offer his own." Colin stated, looking at Nick with a stern eye. Nick got the message, he didn't even need to send one. "Yeah, you can borrow some of mine."

"Oh no, that isn't necessary." Kenny said, not wanting to be of trouble.

"Nonsense, Kenny…" Colin rebutted. "You're a guest here, and we want you to be comfortable." Kenny saw that there was no point in arguing, and truth be told, he was in need of some new clothes. "Thanks, you too." Kenny responded."

"You're welcome, Kenny," Colin said. "Now you two get in the shower before I faint from the smell of blood, vomit, and sweat."

Kenny and Nick looked at each other in silence. "We really shouldn't tell that those our status elements for D&D." Kenny whispered.  
"Agreed." Nick whispered back. "You can take the first shower."

"Thanks, man."

They both went upstairs, Kenny went ahead to the bathroom, while Nick went to his room and grabbed some his clothes for Kenny to wear. He then went to the bathroom and set them down, Kenny was already in the shower, with the curtain hiding him. "I'm leaving some clothes out for you, man. Don't take too long, I need to get clean too."

"Yes, Mom…" Kenny responded. Nick just rolled his eyes at the comment and left the bathroom. Kenny was almost perplexed by their kindness, he had been friends with Stan, Kyle, Butters, and Cartman since preschool, but they have never offered him their clothes to wear, while it was Colin that told Nick to do it, he got the feeling that Nick would've done it anyway. To Kenny, it was a strange, yet comforting gesture. One that he was not used too. For years, he was in the background, always the kid that was just there, the one people would forget about normally if it wasn't for his perverted nature, one whose friends do care about, but not as much as he does, in fact, the only person who seems to care about him as much as he does his friends and family is Butters and his sister, Karen. It's not like he's complaining or anything, he knows that at least Stan and Kyle care about him, but they never really did anything for him other than offer him a place to stay the night. And then here comes a boy, who not only just offered him to spend the night at his house, but is also giving him some clothes to wear. _"What the hell is up with him?"_ Kenny thought to himself. He didn't know what to make of Nick at first, that's why he asked him those question, so he could gauge what kind of person he is, and while he did get to see that Nick was truly a good person, he also saw he was hiding something. _"_ _My friend was in trouble, and I only did what I thought I could do to help, and it wasn't enough. So, before I left, I promised him that I would never run away again, no matter how hard it is for me, or how much that person is suffering, I would be there for them."_ Kenny wondered what he meant by that, he could tell that his conviction was strong, but what trouble was his friend that he could've done more for? Kenny didn't see the point of overthinking it, but it was something he was going to keep in mind for the future. Kenny got out of the put on the clothes that Nick had set out. It was just a simple Blue striped polo shirt and shorts, but all the same, he appreciated it. He exited the bathroom and headed towards Nick's room. "I'm done, the shower is yours," Kenny said. "Thanks, Ken…" Nick stopped to get a look at Kenny, it was almost like looking at someone completely different, it was still the same old face, but it was much cleaner, and the new clothes only made it more apparent how different he looked. "Those look a lot better on you than me." Nick complimented.

"Thanks, I guess." Kenny responded. There was now an awkward silence in the air. "I'm going to take a shower now. Feel free to look around." Nick exited the room and went towards the bathroom. Kenny went ahead and took up the offer, although there wasn't much to see. A few posters of musicals, video games, and the such. So Kenny just looked inside his closet and found a lot of T-Shirts that promoted some musicals, and a few shirts from redbubble that included characters from Earthbound. "Why am I not surprised he's a fan of that game?" Kenny asked himself. He then went to his computer desk and saw a photo of five people. He was able to identify Colin and Nick, but they were a little bit younger, this leads him to assume that this photo was taken a few years ago. There was a woman who he figured was his Mom, she had red hair and green eyes, and was incredibly pretty, Nick bare some resemblance to her, however, his hair was more of a brownish-red, and his eye color was hazel. He then saw another man who looked to be in his late teens, he looked a little bit like Colin with brown hair and eyes, he was very serious looking, but at the same time, very outgoing. And then he saw another boy with light brown hair and blue eyes with his arm around Nick, they didn't look related, but all the same, they looked really close. Kenny couldn't help but wonder who this boy is, it was clear in the photo that they were all close. He knew that Nick's Mom had passed away and that his brother was in the military, but other than the brief mention of a friend that needed him, he had no clue who this kid was, for all he knew, it could be a completely different friend, but Kenny doubt that a bit.

It didn't take long for Nick to get done with his shower, and when he entered his room, he saw Kenny looking at the photo. "I see you found our family photo." Nick said. "We were pretty tight-knit back then, but that was before Mom passed away."

"I can see that…" Kenny said. "I guess that teen is your brother."

"Yeah, that's Eddie." Nick confirmed. "After Mom died, he and Dad got into an argument and he soon left to join the Navy Seals. He was originally planning to go to college, he even has a college fund, but he decided to just use the Seals as a full ride, he probably got most of his classes done by now. We haven't talked for a while, but last I heard, he got married to a woman he met in the force."

"I see… What about him?" Kenny asked. "You two look pretty close, is this the friend that was in trouble?" Nick fell silent, he looked melancholically at the photo, and Kenny noticed the expression. "You don't have to tell me what happened if you don't want."

"Thanks, Kenny… Yeah, he's the friend that was in trouble. I don't really want to talk about it right now though. Eventually, I'll tell you more." Nick said, looking Kenny in the eyes.

"Alright…" Kenny responded.

"So, what do you think Cartman wants with Butters?" Nick asked.

"Right down to business, huh?" Kenny stated. "I don't know, he is usually pretty open about his plans, but he has only really told us and Butters."

"Do you think that Kyle or Stan might know something?" Nick asked.

"Maybe, but Stan is probably on a date with Wendy, and Kyle probably wants nothing to do with it."

"We should probably ask him anyway." Nick stated. "I'll text Kyle."

 _Nick: Hey, Kyle, did you see Cartman do anything weird today."_

They waited for about a minute, and then Kyle responded:

 _Kyle: Yeah, I did, he was talking to some soldiers who were at the Peppermint Hippo. I don't know what he has planned, and I don't want to know. So don't tell me…"  
Nick: Thanks Kyle, I owe you one._

 _Kyle: No problem._

"Kyle says that he saw him at the Peppermint Hippo talking to some soldiers." Nick said.  
"Weird, I did notice the soldiers, they looked to be pretty young though." Kenny stated.

"Yeah, I saw them too, but I didn't really know what they were doing here."

"Maybe, they're forming a get together at the Hippo." Kenny theorized.  
"Possible, that would be the place for young soldiers to get laid," Nick stated. "But I don't see a connection to Butters."

"Dude, I think what we need to do is relax, eat some food, and play some video games." Kenny said, wanting to not spend the whole night discussing Cartman's plan.

"You're right, I'm pretty sure a something will come up," Nick said, trying to de-stress. "Let's head downstairs, and play some video games." Although Nick said he wanted to get his mind off the plan, he was actually trying to think of a connection between Cartman's plan with Butters to the hippo, it doesn't seem like a coincidence, at least not to him.

After a few hours of prep, Butters snuck out of his home, and went to Cartman's house, making sure that his Dad didn't see him out the window. "Alright, I'm here, and I got the outfit." Butters said. "Good, put it on." Cartman ordered. Butters did what he was told, and as much as he hated to admit it, Butters did make his girl disguise convincing, and this exactly what Cartman wanted. "Alright, now I am going to apply makeup to you." Cartman said.  
"Why?" Butters asked.

"I need to make you look fucking ugly, now hold still!" Butters did as he was told again, afraid to disobey him. "You are going to give me some of the money right?"

"Yeah, sure." Cartman said, lying through his teeth. "Alright, I'm done. Now let's get going." Cartman and Butters than headed out, with Cartman in the lead. "Where are we going?" Butters asked.

"We're heading to the Peppermint Hippo." Cartman answered. Butters was very uncomfortable going to a strip club, but Cartman had this accounted for. "Soldiers rented the place out, and are holding an event down there. I was able to get us in, and now we're able to compete for some cash." While Butters still wasn't comfortable going there, he did need the money if he decided he was going to run away. "Alright, as long as I get some money for it?"

"Oh', we're going to be getting some money alright…" Cartman said to himself. As they headed towards the Peppermint Hippo, Butters had absolutely no clue what he had just gotten himself into.

* * *

 **And that's it, you guys know the drill, leave a constructive criticism, I actually would like to know what I am doing right and wrong, and I kind of needs some from a criticism to figure it out. Again, if you want to send fanart, send it as a pdf to my private messenger on the site.**


	9. The Dogs Are In The Ring

As Butters and Cartman made their way to the Peppermint Hippo, Cartman was repeating the rules of the event in his head. _"Alright, so I have to be nice to Butters, that's going to be a little tough, but as long it gets me money, I'll do it. I need to buy him a drink, and I have to dance with him. Damn, this is going to be harder than I thought! I wish Heidi was still fat and stupid."_

Butters had no idea what he was thinking, but once he was the neon sign of the nightclub, he started getting nervous, "W-Why are we at the Peppermint Hippo?" Butters asked.

"This is where the event is being held, _Marjorine."_ Cartman answered.

"This isn't some kind of trick, is it?"

Cartman was surprised that Butters made it to that conclusion first, he wasn't prepared for this. "What, no!" Cartman denied, but Butters still wasn't convinced. "Look, it's a dance contest, I am going to dance with you in the club, and we'll score some cash in the meantime."

This didn't make Butters any calmer, but the idea of getting easy money intrigued him. "Alright, I'll trust you, Eric." Cartman boasted a sigh of relief. _"Dammit, those sessions with that faggy kid's father are making hard for me to trick him._ Cartman and Butters walked to the entrance, and as they walked inside, Butters saw a bunch of military officers buying a woman a drink and then dancing with them. He noticed that most of the women are not exactly attractive, they ranged from either average to ugly, and he was told that he would make a pretty girl. "Ah, I see you did actually find a date kid." One of the soldiers said, directed at Cartman."

"Yeah, her name is Marjorine." Cartman said, in a bragging manner.

"Thank god, I didn't accept that bet," The soldier said. "Or I would be losing some money right now."

Cartman ignored what the soldier said, and grabbed Butters hand, leading him to the bar. "Give us your strongest drinks!" Cartman ordered. The bartender looked at Cartman and Butters, he knew he would be serving to some minors, and he looked over at a soldier who just mouthed at him to give them some light beer. He did so, and Cartman gave the drinks to Butters. "Here is some soda."

"But you just ordered their strongest drinks!" Butters protested.

"C'mon, do you really think they're going to serve alcohol to some minors?"

Butters thought that Cartman had a point, and decided to drink one of the beers. Butters did notice that it had different taste from all of the other sodas he has tasted, but he didn't think much of it. "It's kind of bitter, but I don't hate it." Butters said.

"That's good," Cartman decided to save the other can for later. "C'mon, we need to start dancing." Cartman noticed that Butters was already a little dizzy, he expected him to be a lightweight, and he was prepared to lead him in the dance. As they started dancing, Butters decided to ask Cartman a question. "Eric, why do you always use me for your schemes?"

Cartman wasn't expecting Butters to start asking questions, but since the rules stated he had to be nice, he knew he was going to have to lie though this. "Because I've always noticed that you were lonely." Eric lied. "After everything you did to me, do you honestly expect me to believe that."

"No, I don't." Eric had learned to fake his niceness during his time with Heidi, with that he felt that he could easily manipulate Butters. "Butters, I know it seems like we don't care about you, but we honestly do, we find you funny, caring, and when you dress like this, it makes even the most straight boys question their sexuality." Butters looked at Eric with questioning eyes. With no ideas of the rules, he thought that Eric was being genuine, but at the same time, his track record of manipulating put some doubt in his mind. "Do you really mean that?" Butters asked. Cartman, in his mind, felt like a pussy, he had rarely ever gone this far for cash, and it was really killing him internally. "Of course I do, Butters." Cartman said, faking a kind smile. Butters smiled back at Cartman. "Thanks, Eric." A minute later, Cartman and Butters stop dancing. "Whew, I'm tired. I'm pretty sure that was long enough for us to get judged. Here, take this drink, and I'll just go ahead and ask when judging starts." Butters did so, taking another swig of what he thought was a bitter soda. While Cartman went toward the judge, it was the same soldier he blackmailed to get it. "Hey there, you probably know what I am going to ask at this point. Have me win, or I'll report this event to the police, and I'll add a little child molestation on top that." Cartman went straight to the point. "To be honest, I was going to have you win anyway, out of all of the girls here, the one you brought is the ugliest of them all." The soldier was telling the truth in his mind, he thought that all of the makeup on Butters made him look deformed, not knowing it was even makeup in the first place. "Oh good, glad to see we have an understanding." And Cartman walked away with the feeling that he had just won the lottery. When Cartman got back, he saw that Butters was kinda tipsy, and looking a little a sick. Butters not wanting to throw up all over himself, ran towards the bathroom, and started vomiting in the toilet.

While that was happening, Nick and Kenny were playing Mario Kart 8, Kenny had just gotten past an AI controlled Birdo. "Eat my dick, Birdo!" Kenny shouted. Nick couldn't help but laugh at all of Kenny's dirty remarks. They had both won and lost games, and they were both having fun, but in the back of his mind, Nick couldn't help but worry about Butters. _"What does Cartman have in mind? From what I read in his file, he has done some terrible things to Butters just for the sake of his amusement, but I can't figure out what he is planning."_ His thoughts were interrupted with a shout of victory from Kenny. "Woo-hoo! Eat it, Birdo, you fucking dog!" Nick noticed that Kenny said dog. "Dog? What do you mean by that?"

"Come on, Nick, you have to know the slang for 'dog' is ugly." Kenny said, still excited that he won. "You would have to pay me good money in order for me to take that thing out." Kenny exclaimed. This sparked a lightbulb in Nick's head. "Pay good money… Dog…" Nick began to look through his music selection. Kenny looked at Nick, at first confused with what he had in mind, but then he realized that it probably had something to do with Butters. "You figured it out didn't you?" Kenny asked.

"I can't believe I didn't figure out sooner!" Nick said, finally finding the album he was looking for. "The soldiers and the Peppermint Hippo, they're throwing a dogfight!" Nick looked at Kenny with fear and shock. "I only know the military dogfight," Kenny stated. "What kind of dogfight are you talking about?"

"You mention how 'dog' can be slang for an ugly girl, right?" Kenny gave Nick an affirmative nod. "Basically, a dogfight is where soldiers rent out a bar or nightclub, ask an ugly girl on a date, and compete for some cash by doing some set of rules. You can look up the rest on Urban Dictionary, right now, we have to get to the Peppermint Hippo." Nick was clearly scared for Butters, and Kenny understood that whatever he got himself into was urgent. "You don't think that those soldiers would…?" Kenny began to ask. "I'm not taking that chance, Kenny." Nick said. "Let's go!" And so, Kenny and Nick started running to the Peppermint Hippo, not knowing that Butters was no longer there.

After Butters was finished vomiting in the toilet, he noticed one of the girls had come in to wash up. "Hey, ma'am." Butters said. The woman just looked down on Butters with indifferent eyes. "You shouldn't be here…" The woman said.

"I know…" Butters said. "This place is not meant for kids, but Eric got his way in so we could win the prize money for the dancing contest."

"Dancing contest?!" The woman exclaimed, almost laughing. "Girl, this ain't no dancing contest, and that boy sure as hell wouldn't give you any money."

Butters looked at the woman with confusion. "If it's not a dancing contest, then what is it?"  
"A Dogfight…" The woman answered.

"A Dogfight?" Butters questioned. "You mean when two planes are in a fight to shoot each other down."

"No…" The woman replied. "Not that kind of dogfight…" The women walked closer to Butters and crept up to his ear. "The kind where men carry a contest to ask and ugly on a date, and whoever brings the ugliest girl, wins a pot of cash, and the women don't get any of it." Butters looked at the women with shock, he had never heard of such a thing, and he realized that Cartman was tricking him all along… again. Butters got down on his knees in despair and the woman was expecting to start crying. "What did you think was going to happen?" The women asked. "Boys are all the same, they make you think you're special, and then at the last minute they take all of the dignity you have, and spit on it. At least in my case, I'm still gonna get paid." The women, who felt no sympathy for Butters, walked away from him and headed towards the sink. "You should just let those men screw you, you may not be getting any money for it like me, but you might as well accept your fate."

"How can you let them think that?!" Butters asked, furious that she just accepts this as a fact of life.

"Honey, they're gonna get their fix anyway, might as well learn something about the new world." Butters looked down in silence. "Where's your bite now, in this world, you learn to bite. So, let's see your bite!"

"Who the fuck are they to decide what life should be like, you can say that this if life all you want, but I am not going to play the victim in this!" Butters yelled. "Those slimes just like to hurt nice girls for fun, and you don't need some pretty pennies from dogs like those!"

"So, you won't give in, and you won't play dumb." The women stated.

"I won't let them win, otherwise I'd just become a dog!" Butters said, as he angrily rushed out of the bathroom, and started looking for Cartman, he quickly found him getting money from the pot, and rushed over to him. Cartman saw that Butters was coming, but didn't notice the angry expression on his face. "Oh good, Marjorine, I was just getting the money…" Cartman was about to tell to do something else, but he was interrupted by a sudden sucker punch to the face. "You son of a bitch, Eric!" Butters shouted. "You brought me to a dogfight!" Cartman looked at Butters with surprise, he had failed to notice that he had dropped his wad of cash. "How do you know about that?" Cartman asked. "I went into so much trouble hiding it from you."  
"One of the women told me after I was done puking up whatever that drink was!" Butters answered, angrily. "I can't believe I actually trusted you… again" Butters threw his wig off and grabbed the wad of cash. "Butters, what are you doing?!" Cartman yelled. "Dammit Butters, now we're gonna get disqualified because you went and threw your wig off, you motherfucker!"

"Shut the fuck up, Eric!" Butters yelled. "None of you deserve this money," Butters looked at every single soldier in the room. "Least of all you, you piece of shit!" Butters then went to every contestant in the room, which ranged to be about 5 women including himself, and gave them some spare money. The soldiers were wondering if he was going to tell the cops or any of the women were, but Butters said, "Don't worry, if the cops figure out about your 'event', it won't be from me because I won't be here anymore!" Butters then went over to Cartman, kicked him as hard as he could in the nuts, and ran back out. He had finally made a decision, he was going to run away. But first, he had to head home and grab his bag. He didn't know if his parents were awake or not, but at this point, he didn't care. He just wanted to grab his things and get out of town.

When he got home, he headed upstairs, changed into his regular clothes, grabbed his bag, and began to head downstairs, but he was stopped by a sudden voice. "Where have you been, Butters?! It is way past your bedtime!" Stephen and Linda were both waiting for him. "You are so grounded, I specifically told you not to leave the house!"

"Of course, you'd go straight to punishment..." Butters stated. "Is that all you care about, Dad?! Punishing me, to make you feel big about yourself!"

"You watch that tone, young man, or I will ground you for even longer!" Stephen shouted. But Butters didn't even flinch, he was no longer afraid of his Dad or Cartman, at this moment, he felt like he could take on the world. "Don't bother, I'm running away and never coming back!" This declaration surprised both of them. "Butters let's not be too hasty here, you're just a boy, and this your home," Linda stated. "We're your family."

"Well, I wish it wasn't!" Butters yelled, surprising Linda. "If I had to choose between living today or not being born at all, I'd rather not have been born!"

"Butters, I swear to God, if you don't calm down right now-" Stephen began to say.

"What are you going to lock me in the basement again, and try to get me to eat humans, or you going to be the one to attempt to kill me this time. C'mon, don't pretend you didn't think about it!" Butters began shouting at his father with a strength he never knew he had, however, nothing could prepare for what happened next. The next thing he knew, he felt a sudden pain in his left eye, the same eye that got hit by a shuriken. He then saw his Dad with his hand form into a fist. "Get out of my house…" Stephen said, with almost no emotion in his voice. "From this day on, I don't have a son." Butters, without saying a word, walked towards the door and slammed it behind him. "Butters, wait!" Linda shouted. "How could you just let him go like that, Stephen!?" Linda couldn't believe that person she married would do this. "He'll be back, and when he does, we'll just ground him for being a pain in the ass, like he usually is." Stephen said, going up to his room. It was at that moment that Linda realized that grounding Butters wouldn't change a thing, not in this family at least, while normally they would be in the right to ground him, she realized that they had continuously ground him for reasons that weren't his fault, or reasons that were out of his control, or both, and she just now realized what a fool they had both been, and realized that they were both not fit to raise Butters. Linda grabbed her phone, looked up Colin's phone number, and texted him this information anonymously.

" _Butters is planning on running away, I don't know where he is going, but please find him, and take care of him."_

After Butters stormed out of the house, he didn't want to waste money on a motel, so he decided to go to Starks Pond, and sit at one of the benches. He then looked at his reflection in the water and saw that tears were running down his face. Wiping his tears away, he got out his phone and started listening and singing along to a song that Nick had introduced to him.  
 _Close the window, draw the curtain  
Hide the bright light of the moon  
Hang the dresses, ugly dresses  
No one likes maroon_

 _Wipe off all that stupid lipstick_  
 _Return the earrings to their case_  
 _Make-up won't make any difference_  
 _It's still the same old face_

 _Isn't it funny?_  
 _Isn't it funny?_  
 _Isn't it funny you believed that it was real?_  
 _Pretty funny_

Butters then got up off the bench, grabbed a stick, and started playing with the water. _  
_

 _All disasters have an upside  
You can find one if you try  
You went dancing, you were dancing  
You were dancing with a guy_

 _Isn't it funny?_  
 _Isn't it funny?_  
 _Aren't you funny?_  
 _Pathetically naive and desperate to believe_

 _You can always find some good_  
 _Well you misunderstood_  
 _Or you've been dreaming_  
 _'Cause people are just cruel_

Butters, no longer able to hold back his tears, started to cry. He didn't care if someone heard him, he just couldn't hold it in anymore, despite that, he kept singing.  
 _  
Shut the light off, turn the bed down  
No more crying, don't you dare  
You'll wake up sometime tomorrow  
And forget to even care_

 _Isn't it funny?_  
 _Isn't it funny?_  
 _For a moment he convinced me I could be pretty... funny._

* * *

 **And that is the end of that chapter, again be sure to leave a review, any kind of constructive criticism is welcomed. I would actually like to know what you guys are thinking, so don't be afraid to review every chapter or even just give me some tips on writing this story. Seriously, leave something. Make me know that you are at least reading this story because I am going to be writing South Park stories for a while now.**


	10. You Matter To Me

By the time Nick and Kenny got to the Peppermint Hippo, Butters, the soldiers, and the contestants have already left. The only one who was still there was Cartman. They both noticed that Cartman had a black eye, and he was holding his crotch as if he was in pain. "Cartman!" Nick shouted. "You motherfucker, where's Butters?!"

"Fuck if I know…" Cartman answered. "Why are you worried about him? He's the one who gave this black eye."

"Wait," Kenny began. "Butters gave you that black eye?"

"Yeah, and he kicked me in the balls too."

"You deserved it too, Eric," Kenny stated. "I am surprised that Butters was the one who kicked your ass, but you also tricked him into participating in Dogfight." Kenny was inherently more calm than Nick at the moment, something that Nick noticed right away, and encouraged him into to not pinning Eric against the wall of the nightclub.

"Cartman, how did Butters figure out your plan?"

"One of the other contestants told him the truth about the event, and then he took the prize money and spread it out evenly to the other contestants and took the rest for himself." Cartman told, not wanting to get another black eye.

"You think he went home?" Kenny asked.

"I don't know…" Nick stated.

Cartman knew that Butters was going to run away, but as far as he was concerned, he wanted nothing to do with Butters. So he began walking towards home. "Where the hell do you think you're going?!" Nick asked, still furious.

"Fuck you if you think I'm going to help you asshole!" Cartman yelled.

"You fucker, all of this happened because of you!" Kenny yelled back.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I have to help you!" Cartman rebutted. "Screw you guys, I'm going home!" Nick wanted to chase after him and force him to help find for Butters, but Kenny grabbed Nick's wrist and gave him an expression that told him that Cartman wasn't worth the trouble. Nick got the message and took a few deep breaths. "You're right, Kenny, he isn't worth it…" Nick said, significantly calmer now. "I am going to call him." Nick got his phone out and speed-dialed Butters, unfortunately, it went straight to voicemail. "C'mon, let's get back to your house, maybe your Dad saw him." Kenny said, hearing the phone go to voicemail, and not wanting Nick to lose hope.

"You're right, Kenny." Nick responded, not ready to give up just yet. But as soon as they began walking, Nick got a call from Colin. "It's my Dad."

"Well doesn't he have good timing." Kenny stated.

Nick answered and put the phone on speaker. "Dad, what's going on?"  
"Where are you?" Colin asked, worried about his son. It was at that moment, Nick realized that he didn't tell his Dad about Cartman's plan. "Sorry, we're outside the Peppermint Hippo." Nick answered. "Long story short, we figured out what Cartman's plan for Butters was, but by the time we got here, Butters had figured out Cartman's plan as well and stormed out. We have no idea where he is, and we don't know if he went home. Did you see him come by outside your window?"  
"No, I'm sorry son…" Colin answered. "We'll deal with punishment later, for now-" He was about to tell him to come home, but then he got an anonymous text. "Hold on, I got a text." Colin put the call screen on standby while keeping the call going, he then read the text message: " _Butters is planning on running away, I don't know where he is going, but please find and take care of him."_

"What is it, Dad?" Nick asked.

"I think it's a lead," Colin answered. "Whoever sent this just informed me that Butters is running away."  
"Can we trust them?" Kenny asked.

"We don't have any other leads to go on." Colin answered.  
"Who sent the message." Nick asked.

"I don't know, it's anonymous, but I have an idea on who it is."

"Dad, I'm sorry, but I am going to continue to look for Butters." Nick said, with a tone of guilt in his voice.

"Don't worry, son, I understand, but you should try and enlist others to help you. I'm going to look through Butters file and figure out his favorite places, and then I'll join. It shouldn't take me long."

"Thank you, Dad, and I'm sorry." And with that Nick ended the call.

"I'll call Stan." Kenny said.

"Then I'll call Kyle and Heidi." Nick said.

"Why Heidi?" Kenny asked, confused.

"Because I trust her, okay." Nick answered. "I get the feeling she would know where to look first."

"Alright." Kenny said.

Stan and Wendy were on a date at the park, and actually enjoying their time together, but Wendy noticed that Stan's phone was ringing. Stan got his phone out and looked at who was calling. "It's Kenny, he should know we're on a date right now, he can call me later if it's important."

"I don't know, Stan, it's not like Kenny to call us when he knows we're on a date." Wendy said. "You should answer it, it could be urgent." Stan was a little surprised that Wendy was okay with him answering the phone, but she had a point, it wasn't like Kenny to do this. So, Stan decided to answer the phone. "What's up, Kenny?" Stan asked.

"Look, man, I know you're on a date with Wendy, but Nick and I really need your help."

"Looks like you were right on the money, Wendy." Stan said to Wendy. "What's wrong, Kenny?"

"You know how Cartman was planning on using Butters for his schemes again?" Kenny asked. Stan responded with a 'yeah', and Kenny continued. "Well, it backfired on Cartman, and now Butters is planning on running away."

"What?!" Stan exclaimed.

"What's wrong, Stan?" Wendy asked.

"Butters is planning on running away." Stan answered.

"What, why?" Wendy asked, shocked.

"Cartman was using him for a scheme, and it backfired on him." Stan answered. "What was Cartman's plan?"

"It's a long story." Kenny answered. "Where are you? I can tell you in person."

"Wendy and I are at the park." Stan answered.

"That's fine, just wait there." Kenny said.

"Alright, we'll see you soon." Stan ended the call and looked towards Wendy. "Sorry for ending the date early, Wendy. But I can't just ignore the fact that Butters is planning on running away. Kyle and I tease him a lot, but he is still a good friend."

"You don't need to make an excuse, Stan. I understand." Wendy responded. "Butters and I don't get along all the time, but that doesn't mean I don't care about him or the rest of your friends."

"Except Cartman?" Stan asked.

"Except Cartman." Wendy answered. "Let's just wait for Kenny and Nick.  
"Right."

"Alright, I told Stan all I could, and we're meeting him at the park." Kenny said as he put his phone away.

"Alright, I already texted Kyle and Heidi about Butters plans to run away," Nick said. "I'll go ahead and text them we're meeting at the park." Nick did so, and both gave the okay. "Alright, we're good, let's get going."

And with that, Nick and Kenny made their way to the park, and when they got there, they saw that Kyle was already there.

"Good, you're already here." Nick said. "Now we just need to wait for one more person."

"Who?" Kyle asked. "Why can't we just go look for him now."

"Because I would feel more comfortable if we had more people, Kyle."  
"Okay, fair enough." Kyle said. "But who is coming anyway?"

As soon as he asked that, Heidi came running into the park. "I got here as fast as I could." Heidi said.

"Thank you for coming, Heidi." Nick said.

"When you told me that Butters was planning on running away, I just had to come and help." Heidi said. "I don't know what I can do, but I'll help in any way I can. Heidi then noticed that Kyle was here as well, and things suddenly got awkward. "Oh, hey Kyle…"

"Hey, Heidi…" Kyle said, feeling the awkwardness. "Is everyone here now, Nick?"

"Yeah." Nick answered, noticing the tension between Kyle and Heidi.

"Alright, can you both tell us everything that you know?" Wendy asked.

Nick and Kenny went on to explain about Cartman's plan about the Dogfight, how Butters' found out about the plan, and how Butters beat up Cartman. They then told them that Colin got an anonymous message that told him that Butters was running away and that he was looking in Butters file to narrow down where he would most likely be. "You guys get all that?" Kenny asked.

Everyone nodded 'yes', and Nick went to give them different tasks. "Alright, now I figured that if we all went to look for Butters, we would eventually find him, but that is only if he stayed in town." Nick said. "If there is a chance that he already left town, I want two people calling every motel in the next two towns."

"Wendy and I can handle that, but I don't think he could've gotten that far on foot." Stan stated.

"When does the bus leave to the next town?" Nick asked.

"It doesn't leave until the next day."

"In that case, only call the motels from the next over instead." Nick said.

"Alright, but if we don't get any news, we'll go ahead and call the motels from the next town after." Wendy said.

"Don't worry, we'll text when we find anything out." Stan said.

"Thank you, both." Nick said.

Stan and Wendy exited the park and entered a nearby store, they then both got on their phones and started calling every motel they could.

"Alright, now I think that Colin might need some help on looking through his files." Kenny said.

"It's an emergency, so my Dad should allow at least one of you to look at his files."

"Heidi and I can go to Colin's house and help." Kyle said. "Heidi can also scan Butters Facebook and Twitter to find out where he likes to go."

Heidi was a bit surprised that Kyle would want to team up with her, but now was not the time to be asking him questions, so she just nodded in agreement. "I'm pretty good at narrowing down certain people's posts." Nick was a bit skeptical of this skill of hers, but he couldn't help but trust her, even if his common sense was practically screaming at him. "I trust you, guys, I'll text my Dad that you two are to help."

 _Nick: "Dad, Kyle Heidi are going over to help look through files, Heidi says that she can pinpoint certain information on Facebook and Twitter. They're both very smart, you can trust them."_

 _Dad: "Thanks for telling me, Nicky. I could use the help actually."_

 _Nick: "Get back to me once you find something okay."_

"My Dad knows you guys are coming now, I really can't thank you both enough." Nick said.

"Look, man, Butters is our friend too, just because we give him shit doesn't mean we don't care about his well being." Kyle said. "Heidi, your Dad, and I will come up with info in no time." And with that Heidi and Kyle started towards Nick's house. Once they were gone from sight, Nick and Kenny discuss their next plan of action. "What should we do now?" Kenny asked.

"We should go back to the Peppermint Hippo and see if we can find any trace of Butters." Nick answered.

"Do you know how to track footprints?" Kenny asked.

"Not really, no." Nick answered. "Do you?"

"Kind of, but I'm not really confident I could make out his footprints." Kenny answered.

"Well, it's better than nothing." Nick said. "Let's get going."

Meanwhile, at a general store. "Thank you, sorry for bothering you." Stan had just got done with his call with the motel, as did Wendy. "Any luck?"  
"No," Wendy answered. "I've called every motel in the town next over, and I've gotten the same answer every time: 'Sorry, but we haven't got a person fitting that description.' I don't think Butters has left town yet."

"I pretty much have gotten the same response as well, so I think you're right." Stan responded.

"Where do you think he would be?" Wendy asked. "Butters hangs out with your group the most, didn't he ever tell where he likes to hang out on his own time?"

"I don't know, while Butters does hang out with us a lot, most of what he said was white noise to me and the others." Stan admitted.

Wendy looked down at the ground in shame. "Dammit, I should've been nicer to him. Butters may have been a jerk at times, but he rarely ever means to hurt anyone, and I should've been smart enough to see that."

"Wendy, I'm guilty too..." Stan admitted. "I don't remember it clearly, but something happened to Kenny, and we had Butters fill in for him, only to have us fire him a couple months later for being lame. But then Kenny came back, I don't know where he had been, but after that, we started including Butters in our activities on occasion, and I would be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy my time with him, but I still didn't treat him with the kindness he deserved."

"What are you talking about? You went back to save him from Imagionationland." Wendy stated.

"Yeah, but Kyle only came along to get out of a bet with Cartman, and I just tagged along for the hell of it. I have to face facts, Wendy, while I did on occasion treat Butters with some ounce of respect, we only had him tag along because he was easy to tease, and for Cartman, easy to manipulate."

"But what about that anti-bullying PSA you made because of Butters for getting bullied."  
"I will admit, that I did start that because I wanted to help him stand up for himself, but you saw the product I made, it just became an ego trip for me when I realized that it made me popular, I let my selfishness cloud my true beliefs, and as a result, I ended up jacking it in San Diego. I don't blame Kyle for calling me out. And you saw what Butters did to that interviewer, everyone was surprised that Butters got angry enough to beat the shit out of someone." Stan walked closer to the window and started looking outside, in a moment of regret. "We all called him crazy, but he was just tired and annoyed of all of the unwanted attention he was getting, I should've made a better attempt at anti-bullying, and I should've respected Butters privacy, but instead I used his weak demeanor as a way to make a name for myself."

"I guess you don't know then, do you?" Wendy asked, looking at Stan. "The one who was bullying him."

"No, he never told me," Stan admitted. "Probably was afraid I would laugh or something."

"I actually took a look at his Twitter and Facebook page out of curiosity, and I found out that it was his grandmother." Wendy admitted.

"It was a family member?" Stan asked. Wendy nodded in response. "Well, shit… maybe it was a good thing that he didn't tell me."

"But Stan didn't you notice that the bullying on Butters lessened after that video?"  
"Only because he stopped letting it get to him, and he started calling us out on our bullshit." Stan said.

"That may be, but don't you think that if you didn't make that PSA, Butters wouldn't have found the strength in him?"

"I guess…" Stan continued looking out at the window, and the sudden memory of his first break up with Wendy rolled its way into his mind. "Wendy, do you remember when you first broke up with me and I became a goth kid for a short amount of time."

"Yeah, I do…" Wendy answered, wondering what this had to do with Butters.

"Do you know who helped get my shit together?" Stan asked.

"I figured it was Kyle."

"He tried, but I didn't want to hear it from him…" Stan admitted. "It was actually Butters, he was there when Kyle tried to get me interested in one of the Raisin Girls, and Butters thought that one of the girls really liked him when he found out that she was just using him, he sat right there," Stan said pointing at the sidewalk. "Alone in the rain, crying his eyes out, it was the same place I cried actually… We found him there, and the goths offered him a place in their group, but he declined, saying that he loved life, and he made a speech that even though he was sad, he was also happy that he had something to be sad about, and that he was just going to take the bad stuff from the good, it really opened my eyes to the whole breakup, he then ended it by saying that he would rather be a crying pussy than a faggy goth kid."

"Yeah, that sounds like Butters…" Wendy said. "You also called me a bitch, though…"  
"Yeah, sorry about that." Stan said, rubbing his hand at the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it, I was kinda a bitch about it." Wendy said, smiling. "So, what are you trying to say, Stan?"

"I'm saying that I never realized how much impact Butters has had on my life and that when we find him, I want to thank him for being here." Stan said, giving a melancholic smile.

"You know, it's when I see this side of you, is when I remember how much I like you." Wendy admitted as she kissed him on the cheek. "Come on, let's call Nick and see what he wants us to do."

"Right." Stan got out his phone and speed dialed Nick. "Hey Stan, you got anything?"

"Well, not exactly," Stan answered. "It doesn't look like Butters has left town "

"Well, that's at least some good news." Nick responded.

"Is there anything else you want us to do?" Stan asked.

"No, that's enough, thank you for everything, but you should really head on home."

Stan was surprised that Nick was telling them to go home. "If it's okay with you, I think Wendy and I are going to look around town and see if we can find him." Stan said.

"Are you sure?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Thanks, Stan, I'll let you know if we find anything." Nick ended the call right there, and Stan put his phone in his pocket.

"Where do you suggest we look?" Wendy asked.  
"Nick and Kenny probably went back to the Peppermint Hippo, so we should start at around the road where Tweek's Coffee and the Movie Theatre are." Stan suggested.

"Good idea." And with that, Stan and Wendy went to look around the eastern part of town, while Kenny and Nick handled the middle to the western edge of town.

Meanwhile, Kyle and Heidi were at Nick's house, looking through Butters files, and social media to figure out where he would go. "Have you found anything, Heidi?" Kyle asked as he looked through the files with Colin.

"No, not yet." Heidi answered. "His most recent tweets are praising Nick and Colin, it might take me a bit to find anything about favorite locations."

"He might've said his favorite places on Facebook, have you checked there yet?" Colin asked.

"No I haven't," Heidi answered. "We don't usually use Facebook anymore, we mostly used Twitter."

"Wait, you should check his Facebook." Kyle exclaimed. "Remember when we were all playing superheroes and trying to get a franchise going on Netflix?"

"Kinda, I remember you guys having trouble because someone was spreading rumors on social media." Heidi responded. "Wait, are you saying that it was Butters that was doing that?!"  
"Yeah, and he was specifically using Facebook." Kyle answered. Heidi brought up Facebook on her phone and checked Butter's status. "I don't see anything about a favorite location on his profile."

"He might've made a separate account for his alter-ego, Professor Chaos," Colin stated. "Be sure to check that one too."

"Got it." Heidi continued looking through all of Butters social media feed, while Colin and Nick continued looking through his files. "Jesus, this file sure does go to a lot of detail, I didn't know that Butters was being bullied by his grandmother." Kyle stated.

"Yeah, now you see why I'm trying to get him away from his family, normally I would've called the police, but his Mom even confessed on live TV that she tried to kill him, and the cops didn't do anything."

"The cops here are more focused on trying to arrest black people." Kyle stated. Kyle then looked at a picture of Butters that was on the file, and that was when he realized something. "You know, I think this the most I have ever done for Butters."

"What do you mean?" Colin said as he turns the page on the file.

"I mean, I like to think that I'm nice to Butters, but the more I think about it, I hardly ever did anything for him, he was always by Cartman's side. In truth, I couldn't stand the fact that Cartman was just tricking him into thinking he was his friend, but whenever I tried to tell him, Cartman would make it sound like I was jealous of him, or Butters would deny it." Kyle then looked over at Heidi, he didn't fail to notice that Heidi was, in a way, going back to her former self, but he also noticed that she was a lot more assertive, a lot more aggressive, and he honestly liked this change, he did like Heidi for the girl that she was, kind, sweet, caring. And he was devastated when she became like Cartman, he hated the fact that Cartman was manipulating her into the person he wanted her to be, and he was angry that the girls wouldn't shut up about her and Cartman even after he asked them to stop, even Wendy wouldn't leave her alone. Wendy did go on to say that she wished she stopped, and he does believe her, but he still does get a little angry when he thinks back on Heidi and Cartman's toxic relationship. "Kyle, are you okay. You were talking about Butters, and then you just looked over at Heidi." Colin said, worried about Kyle. "Sorry, I was just thinking…" Kyle said with a guilty expression on his face. "I looked at your file too, you know," Colin said. "I know that you're slightly responsible for the nuke in Toronto."

Kyle looked up at Colin with a bit of surprise, Heidi couldn't help but overhear what was going on, but instead of focusing on that, she kept looking on Butters social feed for information. "I imagine that your brother must've been angry," Colin said, still looking at the file. "He is Canadian after all, it must've broken his heart to see his older brother be responsible for destroying his home country."

"Look, sir, with all due respect, we should be trying to find info on where to find Butters, can we please discuss this another time." Kyle said, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

"You're right," Colin said, but instead of reading the file, he looked directly into Kyle's eyes. "But if you ever want to talk to me about the incident or your brother just let me know, and I'll be here." Kyle couldn't help but be thankful for his kindness, it almost reminded him of how Chef would help him and his friends out on occasion. Colin then whispered into Kyle's ear, "If you ever want to talk about love, I can give you some advice on that too." Kyle gave a confused expression, he didn't know what he was talking about. "I saw the way you looked at Heidi, lover boy, you can't hide that from me." Kyle then blushed red like a tomato, he couldn't deny that his feelings for Heidi resurfaced ever since she started taking care of herself, but he couldn't let anyone else know that. "Can we just get back to reading these files please!" Kyle whispered still a little pink. "You're right, sorry." Colin and Kyle then went back to looking for information on Butters favorite places. "I've got something!" Heidi shouted as she ran towards Kyle and Colin. "I can't we didn't figure this out sooner, it was so obvious!"

"What is it?" Colin asked.

"See if you can find anything on Starks Pond!" Heidi said. Colin and Kyle then flipped through the file until they found the gold. "Here it is," Colin said as he began to read the line slowly. "Whenever Butters wants to be on his own, he goes to Starks Pond, he has gone on record that he likes the way the light of the moon reflects off of the water." Kyle couldn't help but smile at this revelation, he then ran over and put his hands on Heidi's shoulder. "You're a genius, Heidi! Nick was right to call you, if you weren't here, who knows when we would've found that info!" Heidi couldn't help but blush at the fact that Kyle was holding her shoulder and that he was praising her. It didn't take long for Kyle to notice that he was almost hugging Heidi, he then began to blush and quickly let go of Heidi. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Heidi said, smiling.

"Alright, so we have a contender of where he could be, we should tell Nick and Kenny to look there." Colin's words brought Heidi and Kyle's attention back, and they both gave a serious look to Colin. "Why don't you go and check?" Kyle asked.

"If he goes, Kyle, he might run away thinking it's his father," Heidi answered. "It's dark enough to where he could make that mistake."

"That's right, plus, Nick and Kenny are technically closer then I am." Colin added. "I'll text Nick the information, you two go on home. If your parents get angry, just tell them you were helping me with my work."

"Are you sure? we could-" Kyle began.  
"Yes, I'm sure, Kyle," Colin stated. "It's best that only a few people go find him, we don't him scare him."

"He's right, we've done all we can," Heidi stated. "We can talk to him tomorrow."

"You're right…" Kyle said, reluctantly. "Be sure to tell him that for us that we're sorry for not helping sooner."

"You got it." Kyle and Heidi exited Colin's house and headed on home, while Colin texted Nick where Butters might be, and to tell him that Stan and Wendy should head on home. With that, he also texted the number that told him that Butters was running away. _"You did the right thing, Linda, I'll come by and pick up the paper tomorrow. If your husband won't sign it, I'll just take him to court."_ He then sent the message, he didn't think she was going to respond, so he immediately deleted the message so that he could give reasonable doubt to Stephen. "It's all up to you now, Nick and Kenny."

As Nick and Kenny were looking around for a trace of Butters, Nick got a text from his father. "Who is it?" Kenny asked.

"It's Dad," Nick answered. "He says that he might be at Starks Pond."

"Starks Pond, that's nearby." Kenny stated.

"I know, he also says that Stan and Wendy should head on home."  
"I'll handle that." Kenny then got his phone out and told them that Colin wants them to head on home, they both reluctantly gave the okay and Kenny put his phone away. "Let's get going."

Nick and Kenny began running towards Starks Pond, with Nick deciding to check the north side, and Kenny checking the south side. And sure enough, Butters was still there, he was sitting down on the snow looking and looking into the water. Kenny texted Nick that he found him, Nick quickly joined him. "Butters!" Kenny called. Butters looked over and saw Kenny and Nick running towards him. Kenny took off his parka and wrapped it around Butters, it was clear that he was out here for about two hours. "Jesus Christ, we've been looking for you for hours, we've had Stan and Wendy call every motel within a 100-mile radius," Kenny said, slightly exaggerating. "Nick figured out what Eric's plan was, and we both ran to the Peppermint Hippo."

"I was so worried about you," Nick said, relieved to see that Butters was okay. "We heard that you were about to run away, and I am just glad that you're still here." Now that he knows that Butters was safe, he felt like a ton of relief, but he was also still a little mad. "Why didn't you call us, or answer our calls?!"

Butters quietly showed them his phone, his phone has been dead for a while now. "Oh, God, I'm sorry."

"Why are you guys here?" Butters asked, in a melancholic tone.

"We told you," Kenny answered. "We figured out Eric's plan, and we came running, only to find Eric with a black eye, and holding his crotch in pain."

"Did I hit him that hard?" Butters asked.

"Yeah, you did," Nick answered. "Fucker deserved it if you ask me."

Kenny then looked at Butter face directly, and he saw that one of his eyes was bruised and that he had been crying. "Butters, your face, what happened?!" Kenny asked.

"After I figured out what Cartman's plan was, I ran back home to grab my stuff and run away, but my parents woke up, and Dad tried to ground me again, he didn't even seem concerned as to why I had been out. So I called them both out, I was already angry that Eric lied to me again, and I didn't want to put up with their bullshit." Butters was on the verge of tears, but he didn't stop talking. "I also told them I was running away, and Dad told me to watch it, but I kept shouting at him, and he punched me in the left eye. He told me to get out, and that I wasn't his son anymore, Mom tried to stop me, but I didn't want to hear from her either, I didn't want to go to a motel, so I just came here instead."

"That motherfucker!" Nick shouted. "I'm going to make that son of a bitch pay for hurting my friend! Kenny do you have a gun on you?!"

"Nick, calm down!" Butters shouted. "It doesn't matter anymore, I'm never going back there again."

"Well, where will you go, Butters?" Kenny asked.  
"Yeah, your Uncle molested you, and your Grandma abused you, all of your family are monsters." Nick stated.  
"You think I don't know that?!" Butters shouted with tears in his eyes. "All of my life people have pushed me around, and just when the kids finally got bored of picking on me, my Mom and Dad kept grounding for the smallest of reasons, while everyone else gets off scot-free! Why is it that whenever Cartman does something terrible he rarely gets in trouble, but whenever I do as much as chew bubblegum, I get grounded for being too loud?! Why is it that whenever I am badly hurt, my parents first thought isn't to take me to a hospital, but to ground me for having liposuction surgery?!" Butters was angry, not just at his parents and Cartman, but himself. "Why did I ever think that it was going to get better, sure, the kids started including me more in their activities, but my parents never even acted as they cared about me, I've been letting myself get hurt because I always told myself it will get better, and it never did with my parents. You want to know what I wish guys...?" Butters asked, as kept crying. "I wish I've never been born!"

Kenny and Nick looked at Butters in silence as he was crying. Kenny wrapped his arms around Butters. "I don't wish that, Butters…" Kenny said. "And neither do the others, it may not seem like it, but you being here has impacted us a lot more than you think. You can ask them, I'm sure they agree."

"Kenny…" Butters said. "Why is it that you and Nick are so nice to me."

"Because you're our friend, Butters, and you matter to us," Nick said. "Come on, we'll take you to my house, and get you warmed up." Butters looked up at Nick and Kenny, even now, they were still being kind to him, even at his weakest state, and when they got back to Nick's house, Kenny made him a pack of hot cocoa, while Nick went up and got his guitar. "Do you want to me play something?" Nick asked.  
"I don't care," Butters said as he took a sip. "Whatever you want, Nick."

"Alright, I just want to know that we all care about you and that if you want to talk, we're here."

"Will you really listen?" Butters asked.

"Of course we will, dude." Kenny said.

"Why?" Butters asked. "What makes me so special."

"Well…" Nick said. "It's easier for me to sing it, hold on." And thus Nick started playing his guitar, he introduced Butters to this song, and he felt like it fit the mood for the situation at hand.

 _I could find the whole meaning of life in those sad eyes  
They've seen things you never quite say, but I hear  
Come out of hiding, I'm right here beside you  
And I'll stay there as long as you'll let me_

 _Because you matter to me_  
 _Simple and plain and not much to ask from somebody_  
 _You matter to me_  
 _I promise you_ do _, you, you matter too_  
 _I promise you_ do _, you'll see_  
 _You matter to me_

Butters was thankful that Nick chose this song to sing, and he decided to sing the next verse.

 _It's addictive the minute you let yourself think  
The things that I say just might matter to someone  
All of this time I've been keeping my mind on the running away  
And for the first time, I think I'd consider the stay_

 _Because you matter to me_  
 _Simple and plain and not much to ask from somebody_  
 _You matter to me_  
 _I promise you_ do _, you, you matter too_  
 _I promise you_ do _, you'll see_  
 _You matter to me._

As Nick played the instrumental solo part, Butters could feel all of the love and care from Nick and Kenny as kept playing, and he began to ask: "You guys weren't the only ones looking were you?"

"No, Kyle and Heidi were helping Colin look through your file so they could narrow down the search." Kenny answered.

"And you said that Stan and Wendy called every motel in a 100-mile radius."

"I was using hyperbole, but they did call the motels in the two towns nearby, and Nick told them that was enough, but they decided to look around the eastern side of South Park on their own accord. "Really, you guys went this far for me?" Kenny nodded. "But why?"  
"Because it was you, you have said many things that helped us get through life, and they mattered to us." It was at this point, that Kenny decided to take over the duet, and he joined Nick in singing the final verse.

 _You matter to me  
Simple and plain and not much to ask from somebody  
You matter to me_

 _I promise you do (Come out of hiding, I'm right here beside you,)  
(As long as you'll have me)  
You, you matter too  
I promise you do (I do, I promise you do)  
You matter to me (You matter to me)_

 _You'll see  
You matter to me_

Once Nick was done playing, he and Kenny went up and held Butters for what felt like 20 minutes straight, and they didn't pull away or look at his face, all they did was wrap their arms around without an ounce of selfishness. "Don't change too much, Butters, the reason why we hang out with you is 'cause of your optimism," Kenny stated. "It's infectious to hell."

"Thank you…" Butter said, as finally smiled.

"It's not a problem, Butters." Nick then looked at the clock and saw that it was getting late. "We better get some sleep." Nick said. "You can sleep in my room tonight, Butters. Don't try to argue, I'm not going to take no for an answer."

"Thanks, Nick, but where will you sleep?"

"I'll just sleep in the guest room with Kenny, it's big enough for the both of us."  
"Whoa, slow down, Nick." Kenny said. "At least ask me out on a date first."  
Nick threw a pillow at Kenny, and responded: "Oh shut up, you know I didn't mean it that way."

"I know, but it's fun to mess with you." Kenny stated.

"Let's just get some sleep." Nick stated. "It's been a very long day."

And with that, Nick and Kenny headed to the guestroom, while Butters went into Nick's room. It didn't take them long for them to fall asleep, they were all exhausted. Nick and Kenny from searching for Butters all night. And Butters from being out in the cold. While Butters was initially thinking of running away, he found himself changing his mind from the kindness that Nick and Kenny had shown him today, and he was slowly, but surely, regaining hope for his future.

* * *

 **And with that, half this story is now done. Be sure to leave a review of what you think so far, and don't be afraid to give constructive criticism. I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, and I will see you next time. If you guys want to submit fanart for this story, be sure to PM me and send it as a PDF, or just message me on Pinterest. My Pin is Trevor Jack.**


	11. Thank You For Being Here

It was the next day at 5:30 in the morning, despite Nick being incredibly tired, he just couldn't get back to sleep, he spent the next five minutes, trying to get back to sleep before giving up and deciding to take a hot shower and probably watch some lets plays or play some Octopath Traveler. However, before he could get downstairs, he heard something come from his Dad's room, he opened the door and saw that his Dad was up as well. "Dad? What are you doing up this early?" Nick asked, concerned.

"I just woke up, and couldn't get back to sleep." Colin answered, softly.

"Same for me, but that has been happening for a while now." Nick admitted.

"I know…" Colin said. He was looking over Butters file again. "Nick…"

"What is it?"

"How would you feel if we were to adopt Butters?" Colin asked.  
"I would be fine with it, of course, I would have to deal with his panicked moods, but I enjoy hanging out with him." Nick answered. "Are you planning on taking him in once this is all over?"

"Yeah, I figured it would be better than a foster home." Colin admitted.

"I would be glad to have Butters as a brother." Nick said. "Hey, that almost rhymes." Nick softly chuckled at his own accidental rhyming but quickly sighed. "Man, I need some coffee."

"So do I," Colin admitted. "C'mon, I'll go make us some."

"Then I'll start breakfast." Nick said, smiling.

Colin and Nick both began to head down to the kitchen, but they both stopped when they heard moaning coming from Nick's room. Worried, they both entered the room and saw that Butters was tossing and turning. Colin's father instinct kicked in, and he calmly walked towards Butters and softly held his hand, and slowly caressed his head. This seemed to calm Butters down tremendously, as Nick watched in awe in how Colin handled this situation. And without saying a word, he let go of Butters hand, and they both watched as Butters seemed at peace. They then quietly left the room and went down to the kitchen.

"That was amazing, Dad." Nick said, impressed with his father.

"All I did was hold his hand and gently rubbed his forehead."

"I know, what I'm talking about is how you handled it." Nick specified. "If it were me or Kenny, we probably would've woken him up."

"This is isn't my first rodeo, kid." Colin said, smirking. "I had to that a lot when you and Eddie were kids." Colin's smirk then went to a frown.

"You miss him, don't you?" Nick asked.

"Every day. I just wished I could take back everything I said that day, but it was so soon after your Mom died, and I guess I was still grieving."

"Why didn't you want him to join the army?" Nick asked.

"You know why…" Colin answered I was scared that the army would grow wise to his ability and they would take him away, and then we'd never see him again."

"Dad, you know that most of the adults in this world are idiots, the chances of them figuring it out are slim to none."

"That is exactly what your brother said." Colin admitted.

"He was right, you know." Nick said, softly. "I miss him, too, but I still have to keep my promise that I'll hold down the fort while I'm gone."

"You've done a good job so far." Colin said, sincerely.

"Thanks Dad." Nick said, smiling. As Colin made the coffee, Nick got his Moms cookbook out and decided to make a breakfast pie.

"You and those pies." Colin joked.

"C'mon, you enjoy them too." Nick retorted.

"Well, let's just get started then." Colin said as he got the boiled water ready.

As the light shined from Nick's window, Butters eyes slowly rose, as he got up and stretched. He then went over to his phone and saw that it was 8:00. Normally, he would be panicking about oversleeping and the possibility of being late to school, but for some reason, he felt calm, as if nothing could bother. He then remembered he was in Nick's room, and he slowly grabbed a pair of clothes and headed towards the shower, once he was done, he put on the clothes and headed downstairs. Once he got down there, he saw that Nick, Colin, and Kenny were all chatting away. Colin was the first one to notice him. "Good morning, Butters."

"Good morning, Colin." Butters said, cheerfully.

"How was your sleep?" Kenny asked.

"I was having a nightmare at first, but then I felt someone grasp my hand, and stroke my hair, and then everything went away."

"So, good?" Nick asked, smiling at his Dad.

"I would say so."

Nick grabbed a plate of pie and gave it to Butters. "You might want to eat some, we have to hurry and get to school."

Butters quickly grabbed the plate and scarfed down the pie in a matter of minutes.

"Do you want me to drive y'all there?" Colin asked.

Nick looked at the clock and nodded to his father. Colin then quickly grabbed his keys and dropped the boys off at school. "Butters, if you want, you can come straight to our house after school." Colin offered.

"You think I'm gonna head on home after what happened yesterday?" Butters asked, sarcastically.  
"Good point, well have a good day." Colin then headed on back home, while the kids entered the school. Butters wasn't expecting everyone to come running to him as only a select people probably didn't even know that he was going to run away, but despite that, he still wasn't expecting a certain person to run up.

"Butters, are you okay?" Wendy asked as she looked at Butters bruised eye. "That looks pretty bad, should I go get an ice pack."

"No thanks, Wendy." Butters said, still a little surprised that Wendy came up. "Nick and Kenny already took care of it."

"Well, that's good." Wendy said, taking a sigh of relief. "What you did was brave, Butters. I never would've thought you beat up Cartman." Butters had forgotten he punched Cartman and kicked him in the balls, so it was kind of a moment of shock to him. "Oh right, I did that." Butters said. The weird thing to him was that he didn't regret it, he actually felt pretty vindicated that he was able to give Cartman what he deserves. "Thank you for talking to me, Wendy."

"No problem," Wendy said, smiling. "By the way, Stan wants to talk to you privately at recess."

"What does he want to talk about?"

Wendy just smirked and said, "You'll have to wait and see." Wendy then went off to the classroom, and Butters followed suit.

"Was that Wendy?" Kenny asked, closing his locker.

"Yeah, she was worried about me."

"We were all worried about you, Butters." Kenny stated.

"Even Stan and Kyle?"

"Even Stan and Kyle." Kenny answered. "C'mon, we better get to class."

As the class went on for them, Colin headed towards Butters house, knowing that Stephen wouldn't be home. He rang the doorbell and Linda quickly opened the door. "You know what I'm here for." Colin said, without any emotion in his voice.

"I know," Linda then grabbed the paper and gave it to him. "Here, I don't think I can get Stephen to sign it, though."

"That's fine, we'll have his rights revoked the hard way." Colin said as he got his phone out. "I'm calling the police, be prepared to answer their questions since you signed this document it should be enough to give you immunity."

"Thank you, please look out for my son."  
Colin nodded his head, and quickly dialed 911.

"911, what is your emergency?" The cop asked.

"I liked to report a possible case of child abuse." Colin answered.

"Who is the child?"

"Leopold Stotch, son of Stephen and Linda Stotch, goes by Butters."  
"I know the kid, and I know the family, was wondering when someone was going to call us for that family."

"So was I." Colin said, under his breath. "I'd like to remain anonymous right now, but my name is Colin Finn, and if this goes to court, I'll gladly testify."

"Alright, if you say so, we'll check on that immediately."

"Alright, thank you for your service." Colin then hung up the phone and turned to Linda. "Don't tell Stephen it was me that called, I don't want him to know just yet."

"I won't." Linda responded.

"And tell them the truth." Colin said, firmly.

"I will, I just Butters to be happy." Linda said.

"I'll see you in court." Colin left the Stotch's yard, and headed straight home, preparing himself for the police to arrive.

Once class was over, and all of the kids were at lunch eating at their own tables, but Cartman was in for a surprise. As he walked over to his usual table, he saw that Butters was now taking up the spot where he sat. "Butters, what the fuck are you doing in my spot?" Cartman asked.

"Eating with my friends." Butters answered.

"Well, can you move? I usually sit there." But Butters didn't move an inch.

"Cartman, we're not letting you sit with us anymore." Kyle said, quickly.

"What, why?!"

"After what you put him through, Stan and I decided that we were gonna kick you out." Kyle answered. "Sooo, go away."

"FUCK YOU, KYLE!" Cartman yelled. "NICK AND KENNY PUT YOU UP TO THIS DIDN'T HE!"

"You took him to Dogfight without him knowing." Kenny said. "If Butters hadn't found out, he'd probably be in a back alley naked."

Everyone was murmuring around, wondering what Cartman was yelling about this time. Cartman saw that he got everyone's attention. "Butters, I'm sorry for what I did." He said, suddenly. "Let's just put this all behind us and never mention it again." Kenny looked at Nick, wondering if he was going to do something, but he didn't. He knew that Butters could handle it, and unfortunately for Cartman, he didn't realize it.

"No." Butters said, sternly.

"What?" Cartman asked, shocked and confused. "After all that I gave you, you're just going to throw our friendship away! I approached you when no one else would, you owe me!

The whole cafeteria was silent, they had just heard Butters say 'no' to Cartman, and that he was trying to guilt trip Butters, however, it wasn't going to work this time. Butters took a deep breath and decided to tell him off. "After all you put me through, and all of the lies you told, you come up to me trying to make me feel guilty, just like you always do! Well, it's not going to work this time, Eric! I always helped with your schemes, and not once did you ever thank or praise me for my hard work! I have been holding this anger back for years because I was afraid of what you would do to me! I kept getting stepped on like a weed that grows on a pavement crack, just like my father did, and his own father too, and for what!?" Butters had stood up, and face Cartman with the angriest expression imaginable. "Well, guess what, Eric Cartman, it's not raining for me anymore! You say you gave me everything, but you never gave anything but trouble, you say that I owe you, but if anything, you owe me! I have had enough of your bullshit, Eric, I'm done!" And with that, Butters pushed Cartman away, and sat back down, with the whole cafeteria applauding him. "You're going to regret that, Butter!" Cartman threatened.

"You go anywhere near him and I'll call the police, Cartman!" Kyle threatened back. Cartman knew that he would do it too, so he decided, for once in his life, to just walk away. He grabbed his lunch, and just sat by himself while mumbling in anger.

"Nice one, Butters." Clyde said as he high fived him. "Didn't think you had it in you."

"I'm surprised you called him out on his bullshit." Token said.

"That was pretty awesome, dude." Craig said in his usual monotone voice.

"I'll say, you were pretty cool." Tweek complimented.

Butters couldn't help but smile at all of the attention he was getting. Heidi actually got up from her table to congratulate him. "Good job, Butters, way to make Cartman think about what he has done. God knows the fucker had it coming."  
"Thanks, Heidi." Butters said. "I heard that you helped Kyle and Colin try and figure out where I am."

"Yeah, just goes to show how much we don't really know you, doesn't it?"

"Nah, I kept that pretty type lipped." Butters admitted. "Thank you for going out of your way for me."

"It's not a problem." Heidi said, smiling. She then shook Butters hand and went back to her table.

"Wow, dude, now all of the girls are going to be after you." Clyde joked.  
"You really think so?" Butters asked. "Even after all that I did during the Boy vs Girl fiasco."

"They're probably going to forget about it tonight." Clyde said, smiling. Butters started to blush like mad, his innocent little heart couldn't handle the idea of girls suddenly being into him.

"C'mon, Clyde," Stan said. "Can't you see you're embarrassing him."

"Yeah, well it makes him more endearing to the girls."  
"You can stop now, Clyde." Butters said. "I don't think I go any redder." Butters face was redder than Kyle's hair, and this made everyone at his table, including him, laugh. At this moment, Butters didn't even care what was going on outside, he just wanted this moment to last forever. However, the bell rang for recess, and everyone went outside. He remembered that Stan wanted to talk to him in private, so he decided to head out alongside him and the rest of his group. Once they got outside, Butters said, "Hey Stan, I heard that you wanted to talk to me in private."

Nick, Kyle, and Kenny all looked at Stan, and he gave them the expression to keep moving, and they did, or so he thought, in reality, they waited for Stan and Butters to go to one of the corners of the playground so they could eavesdrop on them. "So, what did you want to talk about, Stan?"

"I-" Stan just stood there quietly, almost embarrassed of what he was going to say next. "This is going to sound really cheesy, but I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me," Butters asked confused. "For what?"

"For being born…" Butters still look confused, bit despite that Stan went going. "When I heard that you were going to run away, my mind immediately went to what I could've done to stop this, and then I realized that I never did much for you, and the stuff I did do for you ended up backfiring on me for some reason or another, and it usually was my own fault." Butters knew he was referring to the anti-bullying PSA. "Stan, even if it backfired on you, that still led me into getting the confidence I needed to not let the bullies bother me."

"Even so, I still let my ego get the better of me." Stan said. "The thing is, you did so much for me and I never even thanked you for it. Like when Wendy first broke up with me and I became a goth. Kyle tried to help me get over her, but I didn't want to listen, and it wasn't him or Kenny that helped me came to my senses, and lord knows they tried... It was you."

"What are you talking about, Stan?" Butters asked. "I was just giving a speech on how I love life, and that I just take the good from the bad."

"Yeah, and that gave me the strength to go on and get out of my goth phase. You helped me see that I couldn't just let myself wallow in despair, you helped me see that I needed to move on, and I never once thanked you." Stan said, frowning. "For years I took you for granted, and I never once realized how much you've actually been in my life. And once I heard you were you going to run away, I realized something…"

"What?" Butters asked.

"I can't live in a world without you, Kyle, Kenny, Wendy, and everyone here. I just can't picture a world without anyone from this town here, even the ones that… are no longer alive." Butters knew he was referring to Chef. All of the kids were pretty close to Chef, and everyone was devastated when he died, but not as much as Stan, Kenny, Kyle, and even Cartman, as much as he hated to admit it, but it wasn't just Chef they were referring to, it was Pip, Mrs. Crabtree, Clyde's Mom, Betsy, and even the ones he didn't know very well. "Butters, thank for you being here." Butters was in a state of shock and disbelief, however, Butters couldn't help but ask, "If there was a world where we all existed except Cartman, would you go there?"

Stan didn't even hesitate. "As long as you, Kyle, Kenny, Nick, and everyone else is there, I wouldn't hesitate for a second." Both of the boys smiled at each other, one who was glad to finally see that he was really appreciated, and the other glad that the other still considered him a friend. "Thank you, Stan, that really means a lot coming from you." Stan continued to smile at Butters, but then he noticed the flap of Kyle's ushanka from the corner of his eye. "Okay, how long have you all been standing there?"

Seeing no point in hiding anymore, Kyle, Kenny, and Nick came out of their hiding spot. "We've heard everything, sorry." Kyle said.

"Goddammit, is no one allowed to have privacy anymore?" Stan asked, jokingly.

"Oh, who cares?!" Butters said, smiling. "Let's just have some fun before recess ends."

All of the boys smiled at Butters proclamation, and they all headed towards the playground where they could temporarily forget all of their troubles

* * *

 **And that is Chapter 11, I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. I guess I should probably respond to the reviews I have gotten, all three of them.**

 **RCRC36: Glad, you're enjoying the sorry if you stuck around.**

 **Guest: Thank for you saying such, but I probably won't bring the Goth kids in the story, besides, they wouldn't want the help anyway, and Colin probably couldn't do much with them.**

 **Vectigal: I hope you are still enjoying the story.**


	12. Wounds Collected Over Days And Years

By the time the police arrived, the school had gotten out. Colin saw that one of the policemen was coming toward his door. He opened the door to let the officer in. "What took you so long?" Colin asked.

"Had to see to other things." The officer said. The officer had red hair and a mustache. Colin had seen him around town before, he had heard his name was Harrison Yates. "Alright, I have some questions for you, Mr. Finn."

"Come inside, I can get you what you need." Sgt. Yates followed inside, and let him to the kitchen.

"Alright, you called to report a child abuse, correct?"

"What do you think?"

"Hey, I'm asking the questions." Yates said, with a serious tone.

Colin rolled his eyes at the response. "Yes, I am the one that called." Colin usually respected the force pretty well, but he has heard nothing but bad things about the police force of South Park. From falsely arresting African American's to consulting to faulty information. The list went on and on. "Alright, what makes you think this child is being abused."

"You already know the answer, Seargent," Colin responded. "He has been neglected and emotionally abused by his father and mother for years, and you have done nothing."

"We've haven't had time." Sgt. Yates said.

"Bullshit," Colin said. "You were just too busy trying to find an excuse to arrest black people while other crimes were being committed."

"Sir, I would watch your tone," Sgt. Yates threatened. "I have arrested white people as well."

Colin just stood there in silence, knowing it wasn't worth the trouble to call him out now. What was important is giving the evidence of his abuse to Yates. "Sgt. Yates, I have evidence of Butters abuse in my office, if you come with me, I can give it to you."

"But I haven't filed a warrant on this house, I'm just here to ask questions." Sgt. Yates said.

"Look, I'm offering you evidence on a silver platter. You're also the Cheif of Police, I'm pretty sure no one is going care." Colin stated.  
"Good point, alright, give me the evidence, and I can match it later." Yates followed Colin up to his office and was given the evidence that Colin had collected a couple of days ago. Sgt. Yates took a look at all of the evidence and looked somewhat surprised. "Wow, if I was here around that time I probably would've arrested them right then and there." Yates admitted.

"Wait, what are you saying?" Colin asked, confused.

"Linda Stotch's attempted murder happened well before I came into town." Yates answered. "I have served the Park County department for almost two decades, and I didn't transfer to this town until well after this."

"Who the hell was running the department at the time?"

"Officer Barbrady," Yates answered. "He's a good guy, but he's also an idiot, so he probably didn't realize that he had to arrest them. He was the dumb cop stereotype you'd see in old cop shows." Colin just gave an exasperated expression, and they both left the room.

"Look, is it possible that you can get this to court."

"Yeah, it's not like we have that many cases to work with, we can get this case done and solved this weekend." Yates expressed.

"Thank you, Seargent, but shouldn't you question Butters, Stephen, and Linda?" Colin asked.

"I guess, I already have two cops looking over the Stotch residence, they can question the family."

"Butters is going to be coming here after school." Colin stated.

"Oh really, then I guess I better stick around." Yates said.

"I'll make us some coffee." Colin headed towards the kitchen and made some coffee for the both. As they both waited for Butters to get home Yates kept asking him questions about the case and such, while Colin answered every possible question that he could. After waiting for a while, Butters and Nick had arrived home, and they didn't fail to notice the Seargent in the room.

"Hey Seargent Yates, what are you doing here?" Butters asked, cheerfully.

"I'm here to follow up on a case of child abuse." Yates answered.

"Oh, so now that someone called you actually give a damn!" Nick called out.

"Relax, Nick." Colin said. "He's here now isn't he."

"Fine," Nick said, still giving an infuriated look to the cop. "I imagine he is here to ask some questions."

"Just for Butters." Yates explained. Butters looked at Colin with a worried expression. Colin, understanding his hesitance, told him, "Don't worry, Butters. Everything is going to be alright." When he said that, Butters felt like he was telling the truth. So Butters sat down at the table while Nick and Colin left the room. Yates didn't hold back with his questions, and Butters didn't even hesitate to give the grittiest of details, and every word that came out of Butters mouth made Yates realize serious the situation actually was. Butters went into every detail about how his parents would ground for the smallest of reasons, and it affected him at school, and about when he was planning on running away, his father hit him. It didn't take long for Yates to figure out where he hit him as the mark was still there on his eye and after a few hours of questioning Yates had figured that he got enough information to arrest the both of them. "Alright, that's enough," Yates said. "I wish I realized sooner how bad those people were treating you."

"Seargent Yates," Colin called. "Don't arrest Linda, just Stephen."

"Why Dad," Nick asked. "She tried to kill Butters, even if she is sorry for it, she should at least admit to her crime."

"Because she already turned over her parental rights," Colin explained, showing them the paper.

"I was able to convince her that the way they were raising Butters was wrong, and I figured out it was her that sent the anonymous message. She wants to do what is right for Butters, that should grant her some immunity."

"Normally, it would," Seargent Yates said. "But as your son said, she tried to kill her son, that can't be excused."

"Even if she provided testimony?" Colin asked.

"We could probably bring it down to a fine." Yates answered.

"If that's the best we're gonna get, then I'll take it." Colin said.

Butters couldn't believe that his Mom was the one who informed Colin that he was running away and that she has given up her parental rights so that he could live a happy life, Nick couldn't believe it either, but he still believed that Linda should answer for her crime, and Colin knew this. However, Nick understood why he was doing this, so he decided it best not to argue with him, he knew he would lose anyway.

"Alright, thank you for your time, and I am now going next door to arrest those fuckers." Yates then left the house and proceeded to arrest Stephen, and sure enough, Stephen couldn't understand why, and just had confused expression on his face. "Why the hell are you arresting me!?" Stephen asked. "I didn't do anything!"

"Tell it to the judge, Stephen!" Yates said as he forced him into the cop car. It was all over and done so quickly; it almost gave Colin a mind whiplash. "Huh, if the force put all that energy into their minds, they'd probably do a better job."

"Yeah, but then I wouldn't be in this situation," Butters said.

"He's right, too," Nick noted. "If the cops in this town were actually smart, then half of the destructive events would've been prevented."

"I don't know about that, but things would've gone a bit more smoothly." Butters said. "So, when is the trial?" Butters asked. "Probably this weekend," Colin answered. "So be prepared to answer the same questions."

"Okay." Butters said. "Hey, Nick and I are going to be playing more D&D today, is that okay?"

"Sure, just try and be home before 10:00, and text me when if you're going to be late or staying at friends." Colin said.

"Okay, Dad…" Nick said.

"And if you're thinking about staying at a friends, pack some clothes in a backpack before you leave."

"Are you done now?" Nick asked, sarcastically.

"Yes, I'm done." Colin said, with a deadpan expression.

"Alright, then." Nick said, "Dad, can you take Butters to Kyle's house?"

"I can," Colin answered. "But aren't you two going to the same house?"

"No," Nick answered. "I'm going to Eric's." Colin and Butters looked at Nick with confusion.

"Why?"

"Because I want to teach him a lesson my way." Nick said, smirking. Colin knew what his son meant. "Son, please use some restraint."

"Can't promise that Dad, but I will try." Nick responded.

"But why don't you come with us?" Butters asked.  
"I promised Kenny I would talk to him before I left." Nick said, pulling out his phone.

"Oh, okay." Butters said. "Just don't take long."

"I'll meet Cartman near Kyle's house, that way I don't have to go to his house and hear his dumb speeches."

"Oh, those are the worst." Butters admitted. "See you there." And Colin and Butters left the house, and as soon as they did, Nick called Kenny.

"Hey Ken, how's it going?"

"It's going fine, just trying to keep my sister away from my parents arguing." Kenny joked.

"Dude, seriously," Nick responded. "Not funny."

"Sorry, man." Kenny stated. "Anyway, you got my text, right?"

"Yeah, what did you want to talk about?" Nick asked.

"I wanted to ask what are you hiding." Kenny answered, now going into his serious voice.

"What do you mean?"

"I've seen the look you give when you talk about your friend in the picture." Kenny answered. "It's full of sadness and guilt." Nick couldn't deny that he was hiding something from his friends, he had already told them about some of his life before South Park, but not all of it. There was still one thing he wasn't ready to talk about. "Kenny, I'm sorry…" Nick said. "But I…" Kenny could tell that his friend didn't want to talk about. "It's fine, I can wait, but I do want you to tell me what happened."

"What about you, Kenny?" Nick asked. "You're also hiding something."

"What are you talking about, Nick?" Kenny asked.

"Remember my first day of school, and that bus almost hit you?"

"Yeah."

"You said something interesting…" Nick noted.

"What did I say?"

"You said, 'this shit used to happen so often in the third grade, I'm used to it.'" Nick answered.

"Yeah, I used to my stupid ass in danger, and I would often get hurt really bad for it." Kenny said, half lying. He knew he couldn't lie to Nick, even on the phone, he would figure it out. But he couldn't tell him the full truth either, so he decided to tell a half-truth.

"Is that fact?" Nick asked.  
"Yeah…" Kenny answered. "Look, man, I gotta hurry to Kyle's, can we talk about this at some other time?"

"Sure," Nick answered. "I'll see you later." Nick then hung up the phone and grabbed his bag and guitar. Kenny, back at his house, grabbed his equipment and his own guitar, and before they both left, they sat down, and start playing the same song.

 _Old familiar aches and pain  
_ _Cuts and scrapes and souvenirs.  
_ _Everybody has a few  
_ _Collected over days and years._

 _All at once, a pain will come,  
_ _Like some forgotten lullaby.  
_ _The whisper of a childhood wound,  
_ _When I first learned how not to cry._

 _Tears won't make it go away.  
_ _Years will pass and I'll remember._

 _My life has been what it has been.  
_ _No one needs to pity me,  
_ _And if I fall, and fall again,  
_ _I don't want any sympathy._

 _For good, for bad, for evermore  
_ _Someday I'll lay me down to sleep,  
_ _And I will have just one regret,  
_ _A secret I will always keep._

At this point, Nick and Kenny had no idea they were playing the same song, and only they knew the reasons why they were singing this song.

 _Then on that night.  
_ _A pain will come,  
_ _Like some forgotten lullaby.  
_ _Let mothers sing to missing sons  
_ _When they've forgotten how to cry._

Once they both finish playing the song, they put their guitars in their respective bags and left their respective houses.


	13. A Soft Place to Land

On the way to Kyle's house, Colin decided to talk to Butters about possibly living with him and Nick. "Say, Butters, once this is all over, how would you feel about living with Nick and me?" Butters looked at Colin with a bit of confusion. "What do you mean?" Butters asked.

"Once this is all over, you won't be able to stay with them anymore, and you'll either go on to the closest blood relatives or taken to a foster home and be put up for adoption," Colin explained. "However, since it seems that none of your closest relatives are qualified to take care of you, I had the idea of just adopting you and taking care of you from now on." Butters couldn't help but smile at this proposition. "So, what you mean is that I will be a part of your family and be Nick's brother?!"

"In a way, yeah." Colin answered.  
"Of course, I would love that!" Butters said, excitedly. "But does that mean I would have to call you 'Dad?'"

"You don't have to if you don't want too." Colin answered.

"Alright, I think I will just stick to Colin then." Butters stated.

"That's fine with me." Colin said.

They then both arrived at Kyle's house. Colin knocked at the door, and it was Kyle who answered. "What are you doing here, Butters?" Kyle asked.

"I'm changing sides, Kyle." Butters answered. I want to be on the side of the elves now." Kyle looked straight at Butters, normally, he would've been skeptical of Butters sincerity, but considering recent events, he couldn't help but trust Butters. "Glad to have you, man." Kyle said, smiling. He then looked directly at Colin. "Hey, Colin, where's Nick?"

"Probably at Cartman's." Colin answered.

"Oh…" Kyle responded. "He's probably planning on backstabbing Cartman."

"Why do you figure that?" Butters asked, surprised that Kyle would guess that.

"You've seen how much he openly hates Cartman, Butters." Kyle answered. "That, and he made it clear to me and Stan what his intentions were before we started."

"Oh…" Butters said. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah, I figured."

"So, I heard Kenny was also defecting, is he here?" Colin asked.

"Not yet, but he should be here soon." Kyle said.

"Well, I better let you two get started." Colin said.

"Are you sure?" Kyle asked. "You can come in if you want."

"That's awfully nice of you, Kyle, but I need to get ready for the upcoming trial."

"Trial?" Kyle question. "Are you talking about Butters trial?"

"You're good, Kyle." Colin stated. "Yeah, I am."

"Hold on," Kyle quickly ran inside and grabbed a pen and paper, he then wrote down the number to his father's law firm and ran back outside to give it to Colin. "If you're planning on getting a lawyer, here's my Dads work number. He's never really busy, so he should be to call him up during his work hours pretty easily." Colin was planning on handling this case without a lawyer, but after Kyle went through the trouble to give him his father's office number, he couldn't say no to him. "Thanks, Kyle." Colin took the paper, folded it up, and put it in his pocket. "Well, I've been keeping you two for too long now. I think I'll head on home." Colin then began to walk away from the Broflovski's but turned around to tell Butters something. "Butters, remember to be home at 10:00. If it looks like you'll be home late or you'll want to stay the night at Kyle's, I want you to let me know immediately."

"Yes, sir!" Butters said, giving his salute pose.

"Be safe, soldier." Colin said as he began walking towards home.

Kyle then walked Butters inside the house, and he took them to his backyard. Butters saw that Stan was already here. "Oh hey, Butters." Stan said.

"Hey Stan," Butters said. "Looks like I'm on the elves side now."  
"Cool, we could use a Paladin." Stan stated.

Butters just simply smiled at the statement and set all of his stuff down. "So, what's the plan of attack?"

"Well, honestly we were just going to raid Cartman's house." Stan answered. It was at that moment that they all heard the doorbell ring. Kyle went to answer it and it was Kenny. "Oh hey, Kenny." Kyle said. "Are you defecting to us too?"

"You got it." Kenny said, with his usual hood muffling his speech. "Is Butters here already?"  
"Yeah, he just got here." Kyle answered.

"Great." They both walked to the backyard where they saw Butters and Stan getting their gear ready. "Hey guys, how's it going?"

"It's going good, Kenny." Butters said.

"Better now that you're here." Stan said, smiling. "We're going to kick his Cartman's ass."

"Fuck yeah we are!" Kenny shouted.

"We're not just going to kick his ass, we're going to beat him so badly that he'll never want to play this game again!" Kyle said.

"Oh good, he was kinda a wimp anyway." Butters said. "Grand Wizard? More like Grand Pussy."

"Yikes, Butters." Stan said. "Since when did you start speaking like that."

"Since I started hanging with you guys." Butters answered.  
"Oh, I guess we're just now noticing it." Kyle said. "We really haven't been good friends have we."

"You think, I only joined you guys because I missed Kenny after he got super sick." Butters stated. Kenny, in shock of the statement, dropped all of his stuff.

"Woah dude, are you okay?" Stan asked.

"Y-Yeah," Kenny lied. "It's just that this stuff was heavy."

"If it was heavy, why didn't you ask us to carry some of it for you?" Kyle asked.

"I didn't want to be too much trouble." Kenny answered. Stan and Kyle weren't completely convinced of his answer, but they also didn't see any reason for him to lie.

"Well, next time you bring a lot of stuff, we'll help you."

"Thanks, guys." Kenny said, smiling. While on the outside, Kenny seemed to be fine, he was actually thinking, _"If Butters remembers me being sick in the hospital, maybe Stan and Kyle remember something."_

"Yeah, anyway, about the whole 'you replacing Kenny' thing." Kyle began. "We're truly sorry for not treating you better, you just wanted to keep us company after Kenny had to go somewhere else."

"Yeah, where did you go again, Kenny?" Stan asked.

"I transferred to one of the hospitals in the city." Kenny answered, a little heartbroken, but also a little relieved that Stan didn't remember his death at the hospital.

"Oh, right," Stan said. "I remember you coming back on Christmas Day, and we just sort of took it in stride."

"Yeah, we really under-reacted there didn't we?" Kyle joked.

"More like didn't react at all." Stan said.

"Can we stop talking about that?!" Kenny shouted. Surprising Stan, Kyle, and Butters. "Sorry, it's just I don't like remembering those days. It's brings back nothing but terrible memories."

"We're sorry, dude." Kyle said.

"Truth be told, I don't like remembering those days either." Stan admitted. "It makes me feel like a jerk and a coward for some reason."

"Well, that's all in the past now." Butters said. "Let's just focus on the present, and try to have a good time while we still can."

"I'm with Butters." Kenny said, smiling at him. "Let's just have some fun."

"Yeah." Stan and Kyle said. Kenny then put down his stuff, and Butters noticed that he brought his guitar. "Hey, you brought your guitar." Butters said.

"Yeah, I was hoping that Nick and I could play together once we beat Cartman." Kenny stated.

Kyle overhearing the conversation, decided to barge in on it. "That sounds like a cool idea, maybe we can have a victory party once this is done."

"I would like that." Kenny said.

"It's settled then," Kyle said. After we win, we'll throw a party here."

Everyone agreed to this arrangement, and Butters texted Colin about the party so that he would know. Colin got the message and sent Butters an 'okay,' to let him know that he got it and that he could stay.

Around the same time, Nick was listening to Cartman's rambling about how he better not fuck again, and that Jews are evil, and the same old one-note he has been playing since he moved here. If it wasn't for the fact that he wanted witnesses to see his betrayal Cartman he would kick his ass right now and say he slipped in the snow, but he wanted to show Cartman that he wasn't one to be fucked around with. "Are you done with your rambling?" Nick asked.

"Yes, I am now." Cartman said.

"Good, because we need to get ready for a counterattack, and you bitching and complaining is just going to make things easier for Kyle to beat us."

"Shut up, they're not going to beat us!" Cartman yelled. "Jews are no match for the Grand Wizard." Nick wanted so much to say, "Are you kidding me, a kindergartner with terminal cancer could kick your ass!" But he knew that would set Cartman off, so he decided to just leave the hut, and see what everyone else was doing. He saw that Craig and Clyde were tending to their weapons, Tweak was practicing on a dummy, Scott was checking his insulin shots, and Token was keeping watch. Every time he looked out on all of them, he kept wondering how Cartman manages to get them on his team. According to Scott, he just has a way of riling people up for a cause, even if that cause is as horrible as imitating the 3rd Reich. However, he didn't see it. Any time Cartman has opened his mouth, he didn't want to join his side, he wanted to throw him out a window. "Dear God, I wish the elves would just invade this damn house already." Nick said to himself. And as if on cue, the elves were all outside Cartman's house about to charge right it in. Token sounded the alarm, and a rush of elves charged towards the back door. He noticed that Butters wasn't with them, so he disarmed most of the elves that were foolish enough to charge at them, but he didn't knock them out, he only stunned them. Cartman came rushing out yelling, "WE HAVE TO PROTECT MY THRONE! NICK, YOU'RE WITH ME!"

Reluctantly, he went with Cartman to his room, disarming many of the elves in the process. As he went upstairs, he saw that Butters and Stan were leading the charge in the living room, while Kyle and Kenny took care of the backyard. He gave Butters and Stan an affirmative nod so that they would know that he will be fine, and they continued fighting downstairs. As soon as they reached Cartman's room, Cartman locked his door with only him inside. "Dammit, I can't believe that these assholes are actually winning!" Cartman shouted.

"It's almost like they had a strategy." Nick said in a sarcastic tone. Cartman was too angry to notice. "Well, it doesn't matter, they can't get through my barrier." As he went out to his window to brag, Nick unlocked his door without him noticing, and he went towards Cartman's window. He wanted to throw him out right there, but instead, he stood by his side and waited for Butters and the others to come crashing through that door.

"You're surrounded, Eric!" Butters shouted as they broke down the door.

"What the-" Cartman shouted. "Dude, that's not fair, I put a barrier around the door."

"The door was unlocked, dude." Kenny stated.

"SHUT UP! I CAN TAKE YOU ALL!" However, before Cartman could do anything, Nick performed the Backstab technique on Cartman, taking out a dull dagger and hitting Cartman with it. Making sure that he didn't kill him. "Nick, the fuck!?"

"I can't believe you didn't see this coming." Nick stated. "Not the fact that I was multiclassing, but the fact that I was here to betray from the beginning."

"How fucking dare you?!" Cartman shouted. "I'm going to fucking murder you and your family."

"You can sure as hell try." Nick said, smirking. "Guys, don't worry. I can take this fucker on my own." Cartman rushed towards Nick, only for him to dodge out of the way, and show up behind him. "Hi there." Nick said as Cartman swung his stick at him. Nick dodge again and continued to taunt him. "Come on, you can do better than that." Cartman tried tackling him again, but Nick dodged again, and this time came up behind him with a towel. "Would you like a towel, Cartman? You're looking rather sweaty." Cartman this time decided to throw something at Nick, yelling 'Magic Missile' in the process. This did surprise Nick, but it was nothing more than a bag of Cheesy Poofs. Nick ran quickly behind Cartman and grabbed his neck. He then started pushing his neck to the right as if he was going to break it, but he let go once he started feeling the bones bend a little, this still hurt a lot for Cartman, and he tried to hold back tears. "You still want to fight, fatass?" Nick asked. Cartman then swung his staff at Nick again, only this time, it hit him. Everyone in the room was surprised, and they could all feel Cartman's ego soaring to its limits. However, this wouldn't last; Nick began showing a look of true anger, and he started hitting Cartman as fast and as hard as he could. Once he saw that Cartman was getting dizzy, he dragged him to one of his drawers and opened one of them. He then put Cartman's head in between the opening and slammed the drawer door into his head, and then placed his foot on the door and held it on his head for a good few seconds. Once he let go, Cartman went limp and fell to the ground. Suddenly, everyone was afraid of Nick. "What?" He asked. "Have none of you played Yakuza 0?"

They all responded 'no', and all Nick could say was, "Man, y'all are missing out." They then all looked at Cartman's unconscious body. "Oh, don't worry, I made sure that didn't kill him." Nick stated. "You can check his pulse if you want." Kenny went up to Cartman and did just that. "Fatass is fine." Kenny stated. "Although he is going to have one hell of a headache."

"I'll say, Jesus." Kyle said. "I didn't think you were that hardcore."

"Yeah, maybe we should take notes." Stan said. "I mean, what?"

They all looked at Stan with accusing eyes. "So, Nick what was that game called again?" Butters asked.

"Yakuza 0, it's a prequel to all of the other Yakuza games and is a great starting point if you want to try the series out. Since only a few of you have a PS4, you can get the game for $20 on Steam, and it is a very big game, at least over 100 hours if you want to complete it."

"Well, now we have to check the game out if it made you learn moves like that." Stan stated.

"Kenny, if you want I could gift it to you."

"I don't even have a computer, dude." Kenny said, with a deadpan tone.

"Oh…" Nick stood there in awkward silence. "Well, then I can let you play my copy. I haven't beaten the game yet, but I am willing to make another save file for you."

"Shit man, really?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah, anything to make you experience this kickass game." They then all heard Cartman groaning on the floor. "We should probably head back to my place now." Kyle said. "We're throwing a party for our victory there."

"Really? Sweet." Nick responded. "Just let me go get my stuff, and we can head on over."

They then all went downstairs, there was still some fighting going on, but all of it came to a stop when Nick and the others came down acting all buddy-buddy. "Dude, what the fuck happened?" Craig asked.

"Oh, I was secretly a double agent and I just slammed Cartman's head into his drawer door." Nick answered. Everyone else looked at him like he was crazy, except for Token. "You mean like in Yakuza 0 but with a drawer door instead of a car door?"  
"Exactly, Token gets it."

"Dude, that game kicks ass."

"I know, right!" Nick said, smiling at Token. "And only for $20 on Steam." Nick said that loud enough so that every kid inside and outside the house could hear him."

"So, does that mean we lose?" Clyde asked.

"I think it does, Clyde." Craig said.  
"Oh God, I can't believe we didn't notice that Nick was a traitor, it seems so obvious now!" Tweak yelled.

"Calm down, babe, it's not the end of the world." Craig said, putting his arm around Tweak.

"Thanks, Craig." Tweak said, smiling.

Nick then went outside to grab his things and then they all headed to Kyle's house.

Once they all got there, they all took off their gear, and Kyle got chips and drinks out of the cabinets for people to snack on. Nick then got out his guitar and set it down next to the couch. "Hey Nick, I brought my guitar as well, so if you want to play a duet or something we can." Kenny stated.

"You did? Cool, is it a bass?"

"No, but if you want to sing, I can accompany you, and vice versa." Kenny clarified.

"Oh, alright."

"Yeah, we can't exactly afford a bass guitar." Kenny stated.

"Right, my bad." Nick stated.

"Dude, we can all know how to play certain instruments." Stan stated.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Stan answered. "Yeah, we all know how to play the guitar and pan flute."

"Why do you know how to play a pan flute?" Nick asked in an exasperated tone.

"Long story short, it was one of Cartman's scheme to make money that went terribly wrong, and it ended up involving Craig." Stan answered.

"And I've heard all that I need to know." Nick said, not really interested in hearing the rest of the story. "What about you, Kyle?"

"I play the guitar as well, but I can also the bass guitar and violin." Kyle answered.

"I play the drums." Butters said.

"Really?" Nick asked. "I honestly see you as more of a piano guy."

"Nope, that's me." Kenny said. "As you can see I can also play the guitar."

"Does everyone in town know how to play the guitar?" Nick asked.  
"Almost everyone." Stan answered.

"But not everyone is a good singer." Kyle said.

"Yeah, but for some reason we still here Cartman's old songs in the stores." Kenny stated.

"I thought that was his voice," Nick said, with an annoyed expression. "God, how did his songs about sleeping with Jesus become popular, he isn't even a good singer. He is incredibly nasally and raspy, and it's not a good mix. One can sound good with one of them, but not both."

"Amen," Butters said. "I may not be the best singer, but even I have better tonal quality than Eric."

"I don't sing as much as I used to, but I like to think I'm pretty good." Kyle said.

"I wrote a few songs, and I have a decent voice." Stan stated. "But nothing worth getting scouted for."

"Really, out of everyone here, you and Kenny have the best singing voices." Butters said.

"I've only heard Kenny and Butters briefly when we sang that one song together." Nick admitted. "Kenny was good, he has nice soft tone, but sounds like he could flip real easily."

"Yeah, that's what opera training can do for a guy." Kenny admitted.

"What about me? Butters asked, with a smile on his face.

"It was good, a bit thin sounding, but I found it nice and pleasant." Nick said, almost sounding professional.

"Thanks, Nick." Butters said, smiling.

"So are we going to just stand here talking all day, or are we going to have some fun?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah, all this talking has put me in the mood to watch a good old action movie." Stan admitted.

"I've got the Rambo movies." Kyle said. "Is that fine with everyone?"

"That's good for me." Stan said.  
"I love the first Rambo, so I'm fine with it." Nick said.

"I'm cool for that." Kenny said.

Butters puts his hands behind his back, and shyly admitted, "I've never actually seen the Rambo movies…"  
"Seriously?" Stan asked. "Dude, those are some good movies. Especially the first one."

"Well, we'll just have to change that then." Kenny said. "Kyle put the movie in."

"Already on it." Kyle said, putting the disc in the DVD player. "After this, we can have Nick or Kenny perform, and then we can play some video games."

"Actually, Kyle, I wanted to perform a song that could involve all of us." Nick admitted. "Kenny could play, and we could all sing."

"You sure about that?" Stan asked. "Kyle and I haven't sung in a while."

"You're telling me you don't sing in the shower?" Nick asked.

"Touche." Kyle stated. "Alright, that's fine with me. What song did you have in mind?"

"You'll see." Nick said, smiling. "I just need to get some sheet music, do you have a computer?"

"My Dad destroyed his computer, so we only have Ike's now." Kyle admitted. "But he's very adamant on me not using it."

"Wait, your brother is here?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, he usually chills in his room playing Minecraft or watching let's plays, instead of playing those games on his own time." Kyle answered, looking down. "I miss when we used to play games together."

"Why don't you go up and check on him, and we'll watch the movie." Stan suggested. "I'm pretty sure he's feeling rather lonely at the moment."  
"Are you sure, Stan? We can wait until after the movie." Nick stated.

"Yeah," Stan answered. "Besides, Kyle has seen this movie over a thousand times now."

"Alright, in that case," Nick said. "I think I'll go with you, Kyle." Kyle looked at Nick with confused eyes. "I haven't met your brother yet, I've only seen him around the playground, and I would like to meet him. Is that okay?"  
"Yeah, it's fine." Kyle said, grabbing some snacks and a drink. "He's probably hungry, and I can't have him starving on me."

"Well, aren't you thoughtful." Nick said, smirking.

"Shut up, Nick" Kyle and Nick then head on upstairs, and the first thing that Nick noticed was a bunch of pictures of Kyle's family, specifically, the one where Kyle is not wearing his hat. "Holy shit, you have Jewfro hairstyle." Nick said, suddenly.

"I used to have one." Kyle corrected, taking off his hat showing his now shorter hair. "I shaved it back when Heidi was dating Cartman."

"I saw the program, dude, you don't need to tell me the rest." Nick said, not wanting Kyle to recap the whole process of blowing up Canada. "Man, you should stick to that hairstyle. It looks good on you."

"You think so?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah, I do." Nick said, smiling.

"Thanks, Nick," Kyle said. "I really hated my old hairstyle."

"I can see why," Nick stated. "A Jewfro does not suit you."

"You're telling me." Kyle and Nick then both looked at Ike's door to his room, and Nick noticed that Kyle was hesitating. "I can't do it, can you go instead."  
"Ike doesn't know me at all, Kyle." Nick stated. "I think he would be scared if a complete stranger walked in his room asked if he could use his computer."

"That is true…" Kyle looked at his door again. "The thing is that I don't know how to talk to him ever since I…" Kyle stood there in silence, a look of guilt being expressed on his face. "Kyle, do you love your brother?" Nick asked.

"Of course I do, I would die for him without a seconds thought." Kyle said, in a tone so fierce that Nick knew that he was serious. "And does your brother love you?"

Kyle looked down on the ground again. "He used to, I wouldn't blame him if he hated me." Nick put his hand on Kyle's shoulder and gave a comforting smile. "You know, my brother didn't leave to join the army on good terms with my Dad." Kyle looked at Nick with surprise. He just couldn't imagine Colin fighting with his own family. "Your brother and Dad had an argument?"

"It wasn't pretty either, it got pretty heated." Nick confessed. "I was scared that it would get violent, but neither lifted a finger, they just shouted at each other for about 30 minutes." Nick's smile slowly faded away. "I still remember the last thing they said to each other…" Nick then looked straight into Kyle's eyes, and "If you want to live your life taking constant risks being under fire then go ahead, run and hide!"

"What did your brother say?"

"And if you want to live your life afraid of taking a goddamn risk, then go ahead and be a fucking coward! And then he stormed out the door. To this day, my Dad regrets saying those things to Edward. I think he believes that Edward was right."

"And what do you think?"

"Honestly, I think both were right. After that day, my Dad started being blunter with his patients and started getting more involved. As for Edward, I don't really know, but last I checked on his Facebook, he was getting married to a girl he met in the force, apparently, it took him a few years to ask her the question."

"Why are telling me this?" Kyle asked.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't be afraid of taking a risk," Nick answered. "Ike may ask you to leave, or he may say to come in, but you'll never know by standing outside his door being wishy-washy."  
Kyle knew that Nick was right, and he then faced towards the door and knocked softly. "Who is it?" Ike asked through the door.

"It's Kyle…"

"What do you want?" Ike asked, obviously annoyed.

"My friend wanted to meet you." Kyle answered. "And we wanted to use your computer." Ike opened up the door. "I'm watching a let's play at the moment, can this wait."

"It won't take long, Ike, we just need to print something out."

"No, whenever you borrow my computer something bad always happens." Nick then looked at his computer, and he immediately recognized the voice of the let's player he was watching. "Isn't that ProtonJon?" Nick asked.

Ike and Kyle looked at Nick surprised that he knew the let's player by his voice. "Yeah, how did you know?"

"I love watching the occasional let's play for the commentary." Nick admitted.

"Really? I always that thought that kids your age hated let's plays." Ike said.

"No, a lot of kids at my old school admitted to watching let's plays, and ProtonJon just happens to be one of my favorites."

"No kidding!" Ike said, smiling.

"Who else you do you watch?" Nick asked.

"C'mon in, I'll show you." Ike grabbed Nick's hand, and brought him to his computer and opened up a new tab and showed him all who he is subscribed to. "I also watch Chuggaaconroy, NintendoCapriSun, Lucahjin, Tom Fawkes, AttackingTucans, Josh Jepson, and I used to watch PewDiePie, but I got tired of watching him and I unsubscribed."  
"That's quite a lot of people, and who is your favorite?"

"It used to be Chugga, but lately I've been catching up on Jon's content, and I really like his style, but he hasn't uploaded in a while. I thought it was because he died in the nuke of Toronto, but I then found out that he lives in Calgary, but he still hasn't uploaded in a while."

"He streams on Twitch on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, which should be about 8:00 here." Nick informed Ike. Kyle just stood there dumbfounded at how easy Nick was talking to Ike, normally he would be jealous, be he hadn't seen Ike happy in months, that he couldn't help but smile at the scene unfolding. "I'm usually in bed by 9:00, how long does he stream?" Ike asked.

"Usually between 4 to 8 hours," Nick answered. Ike looked down and pouted, an action that Nick found to be adorable. "Hey, don't worry, Jon has uploaded his older streams on his channel "ProtonJon's Livestreams" while another channel uploads his newer streams and some others." Ike typed in Jon's other channel and subscribed to it. "What's the other channel called?" Ike asked.

"TRG & Friends Stream Archives." Nick answered. Ike typed that out and subscribed to that channel as well. "Thanks for telling me about this, I would have no idea otherwise."

"It's not a problem." Nick said, smiling. "My name is Nick."

"I'm Ike, it's nice to meet you." Ike shook Nick's hand, smiling wide on his face. "You wanted to use my computer for something?"

"Yeah, I just need to print some sheet music out." Nick said.  
"Alright, because you helped me find more content by my favorite let's player, I'll let you use it." Ike got off of his computer, and Nick sat down and went to print out the song he wanted. He already had an account on musicnotes and his Dad had already bought some sheet music for him, so he just needed to print it out. "And that's that. Thanks, Ike."  
"No problem." Ike said. "Are you friends with Kyle?"

"Yeah, I am." Nick answered. Ike signaled Nick to get down to his level, and he did so. Whatever he wanted to say, he clearly didn't want Kyle to hear it. "Don't tell Kyle I said this, and don't get me wrong, I'm still mad at him for what he did, but despite that, I still worry about him." Nick did his best not to react to what Ike was telling him so he wouldn't give Kyle a clue of what they were talking about. "Please, keep an eye on him, my brother tends to let his guilt cloud his judgment, and I don't want him or anyone else to get hurt." Nick smiled at Ike to tell him that he will keep an eye on him. "Thank you, Ike." Kyle said. "I've brought you some snacks in case you get hungry."

"Yeah, yeah…" Ike said. "Thanks, Kyle." Kyle did his best to keep his smile, he wanted Ike to know that he still loved him, even though Ike already knew. And with that, they let Ike continue watching his lets plays.

"Well, that went well." Nick said.

"Yeah, I can't believe that you were able to talk to him so easily. Do you really watch those guys?" Kyle asked, wondering if he actually knew those lets players.

"Of course I do." Nick said. "I wouldn't lie about that. Is it true that most of the kids here hate watching let's plays."

"It's not that we hate them, it's just that most of the little kids here would rather watch people playing video games than actually playing them themselves." Kyle explained.

"I actually have the opposite problem, if I own the game that is being let's played by someone, I will avoid it like the plague so I don't spoil myself on the game, but once I finish the game, I may watch a let's play after a few weeks." Nick said.

"I may actually start trying to watch them if it can bring me closer to Ike," Kyle said, honestly. "Who would you recommend?"

"I don't know if that is such a good idea, Kyle, but if you really want me to recommend someone, I would say ProtonJon and RoahmMythril. Jon is usually pretty chill and funny, but he is also really sincere."

"And the other guy?"

"Roahm is very smart and analytical, I would highly recommend his perfect runs of Mega Man and his Silent Hill let's plays. Start with those two, and go from there, they usually keep close friends on the side tab."

"Thanks, Nick." Kyle said, smiling. "Hey, what did Ike tell you?"

"Sorry, I promised him I wouldn't tell you." Nick said, smirking.

"Jesus, you just met him, and you two are already keeping secrets from me." Kyle said, jokingly. He then looked straight into Nick's eyes, and said, "Nick, I haven't seen Ike smile in months, and from just one meeting with you, he began acting like his old self."

"What are you getting at, Kyle?"

"I'm saying that your welcome to come here at any time." Kyle said.

"But won't you get jealous?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, but if you being here puts a smile on Ike's face, it'll be worth it."

"Thanks, Kyle." Nick said, smiling sincerely. "We better head back downstairs, the movie is probably half-way done now."

"Yeah," They then head back downstairs, and they saw they were around the part where Rambo was still in the woods.

"Jesus, what took you guys so long?" Kenny asked.

"Nick and Ike were actually busy hitting it off." Kyle said, smiling.

"Seriously?" Stan asked. Kyle nodded in response. "No shit, what did they talk about?"

"Let's players." Nick answered.

"You watch let's plays?" Stan asked.

"Only of games that I either don't own or games that I have already beaten." Nick explained.

"Those two went on talking about this ProtonJon guy for a while." Kyle stated. "I haven't seen Ike smile in months, and from just one conversation, he already had Ike smiling."

"Jesus, Kyle, why don't you get down on your knees and propose already." Kenny said, clearly joking at Kyle's expense. This made everyone laugh in the room, including Nick. Kyle didn't find it particularly funny, but he couldn't really get mad at Kenny as it was kinda his own fault. "Very funny, Kenny. Now, if you guys are done laughing at me, Nick has got the sheet music ready."

"That quickly?" Butters asked.

"I have an account on the musicnotes website and my Dad has bought me sheet music on that site before." Nick explained.

"Oh, I see." Butters said, now thinking of a plan. Nick passed down the sheet music to everyone in the room, each giving it a good read before passing it down to the next person.

"It's in E Major." Stan stated.

"That should be good for us, we're all kids that know how to sing." Nick stated. "So, who is going to play, me or Kenny?"

"I'll play this time." Kenny said. "I don't really want to sing right now."

"Alright, that's fine." Nick said. "I can sing the main part, and you three can be backup."

"But this song only has three parts." Butters stated.

"We can make it a quartet." Nick stated. "There is a part that breaks off, who is going to take which lyric."

"You've said that you'll handle the main part, but that part takes the first and last part." Kyle stated.

"I'll take the first part, the rest is fair game." Nick said.

"Alright, I'll take the second part." Kyle said.

"Then I'll take the third part." Butters said.

"I guess I'm the last part then." Stan said.

"We can change it up if you want." Nick said.

"Nah, I relate most to that line, so I'll stick with it."

"Alright, we'll start after the movie is done." Nick said as the movie kept going.

"Do we need to rewind, Butters?" Stan asked.

"Nah, I'm good." Butters said.

"Alright, let's just enjoy the movie." Nick said, as he and Kyle sat down, and started watching the movie the rest of the movie.

While that was happening, Colin was finishing up typing up his reports on Butters. After he was finished he decided to look into the files of Kenny and Stan. He had looked at them before, but he quickly noticed that Kenny's file seemed incomplete. There was a lot of information that he just could not find, and some that were even inconsistent. In the file, it says that Kenny was transferred to a hospital in the city for muscular dystrophy and was there for a full year, but when he called it up, they said that they never had a Kenny Mccormick there, to begin with. This made Colin incredibly curious about Kenny. Whatever was missing in the file, was something that only he and possibly his family could answer. As for Stan's file, mostly everything is there, however, Colin couldn't help but notice that a page was missing from the file. It was just one page, so he almost didn't notice, but he did, and when he asked the Mayor about it, she just told him that Stan requested that page be taken out as he didn't want anyone knowing about its contents and that only his closest friends and family know what its in that page. Both are clearly hiding something, from the inconsistent nature in Kenny's file to Stan not wanting anyone to know about certain information in his file. Colin knew he would have his work cut out for him. But right now, he needed to focus on Butter's case. He was able to get Gerald to agree to take on the case, however, he felt that he was going to do most of the talking and Gerald was just going to stand there just to make it look official. In any case, Colin was done with his work, and after all that, he really wanted a drink, so he went downstairs, and poured himself a glass of whiskey, and turned on some Last Man Standing.

After the movie was over, Nick made sure the sheet music was propped up so that Kenny could refer to it whenever he needed it.

"You know how to sight read, right?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, we all do." Kenny answered.

"Cool," Nick responded. "Are you guys ready?"

Stan, Kyle, and Butters were studying the music along the with Kenny to make sure that they wouldn't get the harmonies wrong. "I'm good." Stan said.

"I'm ready when you are." Kyle said.

"What part do I sing?" Butters asked.

"Just follow my lead whenever the other parts come in." Nick answered.

"Okey-Dokey." Butters said.

Nick then gave Kenny a signal to start, and he began playing, and after about a few seconds, Nick began to sing.

 _Sugar  
Sugar, butter, flour_

 _Sometimes I still see her  
My mother, the dreamer  
She'd say, "Nothing's impossible, child"_

 _A dream needs believing  
To taste like the real thing  
Like some stranger you recognize_

 _So pure,  
(So pure, so electric)  
So electric  
_

 _So sure,  
(So sure, so connected)  
So connected_

 _To those little believers inside  
May we all be so lucky_

 _But dreams are elusive  
The kind we've gotten used to is  
_

 _Nothing I can feel  
Nothing I can hold  
Nothing I can have_

 _Nothing that I know_

 _Dreams come and they go_

 _But hold them and keep them  
(But hold them and keep them)  
And know that you need them  
(And know that you need them)  
When your breaking point's all that  
You have_

 _A dream is a soft place to land  
May we all be so lucky_

 _Sugar, butter, flour_

Kenny put down his guitar, and everyone took in the silence that now surrounded in the room.

"Jesus, Nick," Stan said. "Why did you have to pick such a depressing song."

"No reason," Nick answered. "I just wanted to see how you guys would react."

"Well, it definitely hit close to home." Kyle stated, quietly so no one would hear.

"How did we do, Kenny?" Butters asked, curious.

"It was good, considering that we only had a little time to learn the song. Thankfully, Nick didn't pick anything by Sondheim." Kenny answered.

"Sondheim?" Butters questioned.

"Guy who wrote the music to Into The Woods." Nick stated. Butters gave an affirmative nod, now understanding who he is.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that guy hates the people who perform his songs." Kenny stated.

"Anyway, I'm just glad that you agreed to this." Nick stated.

"You know what," Stan said. "So am I." A smile slowly formed across his face. "We've never really done something like this, and I kinda liked it."

"Me too." Kyle said. "I wouldn't mind doing this again, actually."

Nick was happy that his friends enjoyed doing this, and that they were willing to do it again, but he began to wonder what time it was, and he saw that it was about 8:00. His Dad told him to be home at 10:00, but in truth, he kinda wanted to stay longer. So, he looked towards Butters and asked, "Do you just want to stay the night, Butters?" Butters was surprised by this question, he didn't think that Nick would be the one to suggest it. "We can, but I was kinda hoping that I could ask Colin to do something for me."

"What did you want to ask him?" Nick asked.

"It's a surprise," Butters said, smiling. "But you'll see."

Nick looked at Butters suspiciously, but he just kept smiling, it was clear that Butters wasn't going to budge on this any further. "Alright, I'll text Dad if it's okay to spend the night at Kyle's, and you can text him whatever you need to ask him."

"Sounds good."

So they each texted Colin separately, and each got the okay from him, so they put their phones back in their pockets, and looked straight at Stan and Kyle. "So, I guess you guys are staying the night?" Stan asked.

"Yeah, what about you?" Nick asked.

"I can spend the night." Stan answered. "I only live right next door, so as long as my Mom knows where I am, it'll be okay."

"What about you, Kenny?" Butters asked.

"Sorry, not this time," Kenny answered. "I have to get home and make sure my parents are killing each other, and that my sister is okay."

"Oh, well that sucks." Kyle said. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Do you need some help carrying your stuff?" Butters asked.

"Nah, I'm good." Kenny said, grabbing his bag and guitar, and heading towards the door.

"See ya, guys." And just like that, Kenny had left the house. It was now just Stan, Kyle, Nick and Butters.

So, what do we do now?" Stan asked.

"I guess we can just play some video games." Kyle answered.

"What time does your Mom usually tell you to go to bed?" Butters asked.

"9:30," Kyle answered. "But don't worry, as long as we keep quiet, my Mom won't mind too much."  
"What about Ike?" Nick asked.

"Ike usually puts himself to bed, as he hates when Mom hets angry." Kyle answered. "So, he'll be fine."

"Alright, then let's just chill out." Nick said, with everyone silently agreeing with him. Kyle turned on his own Switch, and they began playing video games. After about an hour and a half of playing video games, everyone agreed to turn in for the night, and Stan, Nick, and Butters got some blankets and sleeping bags and they all fell asleep peacefully.

* * *

 **And that is the end of Chapter 13. Holy crap, this is the longest chapter I have written for what is basically a filler chapter. There are still some important plot points that are being set up for future stories, and I can't wait to write them. For those of you who are waiting patiently, good for you, college life has got me busy, but I try to write whenever I can. Hope you guys are enjoying the story, and be sure to leave a review of what you like and don't like so far, and be sure to be constructive about it. Have a great day.**


	14. I Won't Have To Anymore

There were two kids running a field, they were smiling, running, and just having fun. One was Nick, and the other was his friend was his old home. "Hey," Nick said. "Do you think we'll still be friends when he we're 64?" Nick asked, smiling

"Of course, we will." Nick smiled at his friend's response, and in the distance, he saw a tree and being the mischevious little kid that he was, he wanted to climb it. "Follow me!" He began running toward the tree, but he noticed that his friend wasn't following him. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"I'm sorry, Nick, but I can't follow you anymore." And all of the sudden, the sky turned dark, and the fields were suddenly grey. He tried to say his friend's name, but the words wouldn't come out. He then began to notice that his friend was being dragged away and without a moment's hesitation, he began running after him, but no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't catch him. He tried again to shout his name, but his voice betrayed him, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even utter a syllable of his name. After about five minutes of trying to catch him, Nick tripped and fell, and when he looked up, he saw that his friend was gone. Nick punched the ground in grief and frustration. "Goddammit!" Nick shouted, seeing that his voice was back. "Please, don't go…" Nick heard his friends voice in the distance.

"I'm right here!" Nick shouted. "Where are you?"

"Please…" And before he could finish his sentence, Nick opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of Kyle's room. He looked at Kyle's digital clock and saw that it was 5:30. Nick put his hand on his head.

"Jesus, can you groan even louder." Nick looked up and saw that Stan was awake.

"Ah shit, did I wake you up?"

"Yeah, I thought you were having a wet dream," Stan said, smirking.

"You know, sometimes I wish I would have those." Nick admitted. Stan's expression turned serious, and he put his hand on Nick's shoulder and said, "Let's go downstairs, we don't want to wake Kyle and Butters." Nick looked at Kyle and Butters and they were both still sound asleep. Nick agreed and they silently went downstairs, they turned on lights in the kitchen. "Do you know if they have those Keurigs that make coffee?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, hold on." Stan opened one of the drawers and gave him some coffee pods.

"Thanks." Nick put the pod Keurig and grabbed a coffee cup from one of the cabinets, and made himself some quick and easy coffee. Nick then opened the fridge saw they had some Half-and-Half, he grabbed some and poured a little bit into his cup.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Stan asked as Nick put the carton back in the fridge. Nick turned towards Stan and sat down at the kitchen table. "Yeah, I do." Nick said.

"So, what were you dreaming about?"

Nick took a sip of his coffee and looked directly at Stan. "I was in a field playing with my friend, we were just doing our own thing, but then something started dragging him away." Stan looked at Nick, clearly concerned. "Who was it in the dream?"  
"You don't know him, but he was one of my closest friends back at my old home."

"A Super Best Friend?" Stan asked.

"Yeah..." Nick said, solemnly. "I tried to run after him, but no matter how fast I ran, I just couldn't reach him. I eventually tripped and when I got back on my feet, he was already gone. I looked all around me, but there was no trace of him anywhere."

"What happened after that?" Stan asked, clearly wanting to know more.

"Well, I heard his voice, it sounded like he scared," Nick answered. "He begged me not to leave him, and I tried to ask where he was, but then I woke up as soon as he said 'please.'

"Jesus, why did you have a dream like that?" Stan asked, concerned about Nick.

"That's right, I've only told Kenny about him." Nick said to himself. "About a year ago, something terrible happened, and I thought I did all I could to help him, but now I see that it wasn't enough."

"It's hard for me to believe that you didn't get help him enough." Stan admitted.

"Well, I didn't, Stan!" Nick said, clearly getting furious. "Sorry, its just I don't like to remember those days."

"You mentioned that your Dad didn't want to stay in a place full of bad memories. I assume that he is a major part of those bad memories." Stan assumed.

"He is more than a major part." Nick admitted, taking another sip of his coffee.

"I see…" Stan noticed that Nick was clearly regretful of whatever happened, but he got the feeling that Nick wasn't going to go into detail about it. "So, did your Dad make the right call?"

"To be honest, I think he did." Nick answered. "I haven't felt so happy in a while, and I have you guys to thank."

"Dude, if you knew the shit that has happened in this town, you would not be saying that." Stan said, with confidence.

"Do you honestly think I don't know about what has happened here?" Nick asked, jokingly. "I honestly did have my reservations about this place at first, but that changed after I met you, Butters, Kyle, and Kenny."

"Why, we all have quite a bit of emotional baggage that could open at any moment."

"I know, but in spite of that, I still enjoy being with you guys." Nick confided.

"Yeah, but if you knew what my baggage was, you would go running away." Stan said, showing a melancholic expression.

"Stan, a few days before I left, I promised my friend that I would never run away from someone who needed my help again, especially a good friend." Nick admitted. "Whatever it is that you are hiding, I promise you that I will not run."

"Do you really mean that?" Stan said, looking at the table.

"Look at me, Stan." Stan looked to see that Nick's expression changed to that of a determined individual. "I promise that I won't run away." Nick said, in a tone so adamant that Stan felt that he could believe him. Stan smiled at Nick. "Thanks, dude." Nick looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was now 6:00. Nick finished the rest of his coffee and suggested to Stan that they get changed for school. Stan agreed, and they went upstairs to get their bags and get out of their pajamas, but when they got up there, they saw that Kyle and Butters were already awake. "When did you guys wake up?" Kyle asked.

"About 30 minutes ago." Stan answered.

"I know that Nick is an early riser, but why did you wake up that early Stan?" Butters asked.

Stan looked at Nick to make sure it was okay to tell them about his dream, Nick gave an expression that told him it was alright. "Nick was having a nightmare, and his groans woke me up." Stan explained.

"Nick had a nightmare?" Butters asked, clearly concerned. "What was it about?"

"Yeah, man, please tell us." Kyle said.

Nick went on the explain the dream he had to them, and how it relates to him and his past. Basically filling them into what Stan and Kenny already know. "Man looks like you have some baggage as well." Kyle said.  
"No kidding." Butters said.

"Yeah, but you it's clear that you need more help at the moment, Butters." Nick stated.

"Are you sure?" Butters asked.  
"Yeah, I'm sure, Butters." Nick answered. "I can't focus on the past, I need to set my mind for what's going to happen today, and what might happen in the future."

"Dude, can I just say that you are one strong motherfucker." Kyle said.

"Nah, I just have some good friends and family to keep me on my toes." Nick said. "But others aren't as lucky as me, that is why I made him a promise that I wouldn't run from someone's problems."

"Christ, and I thought I made some gay speeches." Kyle said, trying to bring some humor into this chat. It worked, everyone laughed at his joke, and it felt good to laugh after talking about some serious subjects.

"Anyway, we better get down and eat some breakfast. My Mom knows you guys are here, so she'll probably cook something for us."

"That's awfully nice of her." Nick commented.

"Yeah, she can be, but she can also be…" Kyle hesitated to finish the sentence.

"A bitch?" Butters said, with clear hesitance. Kyle angrily glanced at Butters so fast, that Butters ran behind Nick for protection. "I'm sorry, Kyle. I shouldn't have said that."

Kyle took a deep breath and looked at Butters again, this time in a calmer manner. "It's fine, I know better than anyone that she can be hard to deal with."

"How bad can she be?" Nick asked.

"She's a stereotypical Jewish Mom.' Stan stated.

"Oh…" Nick responded, knowing exactly what kind of person that could be.

"She is also from New Jersey." Butters stated.

"Oh, so she can be violent?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, almost frighteningly so." Kyle stated. "But I also have my temper."  
"Yeah, but the only thing that really sets you off is Cartman, or someone tricking your brother into doing something immoral."

"I'm going to take a guess and say that it's usually Cartman that's responsible." Nick said.

"Yeaaaaah…" Kyle responded. Anyway, we better get down."

So, Nick and the others headed downstairs where they found that Sheila was indeed downstairs, along with Ike and Gerald.

"Hello, boys." Sheila said. "Did you sleep well?"

"We slept fine, Ms. Brofloszki." Butters answered.

"That's good," Shelia responded.

"I don't think I've formally introduced myself," Nick stated. "My name is Nicholas Finn, but you can just call me, Nick."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," Sheila said, shaking Nick's hand. "You seem like a fine young man, thank you for being my bubbies friend." Nick looked at Kyle, his face with a clear expression of embarrassment with which Nick could only respond with a look of pity. "It's not a problem, Ms. Sheila. You don't mind if I call you by your first name, right?"

"Of course not." Sheila said, clearly liking Nick's manners. "Now why don't you sit down and eat your breakfast."

Nick looked at Kyle wondering where Kyle usually sat at the table, Kyle looked at the seat he usually sat down at and Nick, getting the message, chose not to sit at the spot. "G'morning Ike," Nick said, smiling. "How was your sleep?"

"It was good." Ike responded. Ike went back to eating his cereal in silence. Nick could tell that Ike was uncomfortable with someone in the room, and while he knew he was mad at Kyle, he felt that it was most likely one of his parents.

"Nick, right?" Gerald questioned.

"Yes, sir."

"Your Dad gave me a call yesterday, and I'm going to standing attorney for the trial against Stephen, which I guess means that your Dad will do all of the work while I just stand there and make it look official."

"Well, at least you admit it." Kyle said to himself.

"Thank you, Mr…"

"Gerald Broflozski."

"Thank you, Gerald." Nick said.

They all stood there in silence as they eat your breakfast, the silence making the air seem thicker than it actually was. Nick could tell that Ike was uncomfortable with someone in the room, but he couldn't tell whom. He decided that he was going to ask Kyle later.

"I'm going on ahead to school." Ike said as he got up from the table. He didn't even finish his food. "Ike, you've barely touched your food." Kyle stated. "You need your energy."

"I'm just not hungry, Kyle." Ike said. "You don't need to constantly worry about me, I can't take care of myself."

Kyle just looked at Ike in silence, clearly crestfallen about his brother's response. Sheila, noticing Kyle's reaction, decided to step in. "Ike, why don't you just eat a little bit more for me."

"Mom, I'm really not hungry." Ike responded.

"Please, if not for your brother, then at least for me." Sheila said, clearly losing her patience.

"It's fine, Mom," Kyle said. "If he isn't hungry, we shouldn't force him."

"Are you sure, Kyle?" Stan asked, with a concerned expression.

"Yeah, I am…" Kyle said, lying. "I'll see you at school, Ike." Kyle tried his best to force a smile, but Nick could tell that he was hurting inside.

Butters feeling the tension in the room, quickly ate his breakfast. "I'm finished too." Butters said, moving his plate aside and getting up from his seat. "Nick, I need to pick something up from your house so don't wait for me, okay?"

Nick couldn't help but wonder what Butters had planned, but he figured that as long as Stephen was in questioning, there was nothing to worry about. "Alright, I'll see you at school then."

Butters smiled at Nick, and he went to grab his bag at the door and he put on his jacket.

"Ike, are you coming or not?" Butters asked.

"Oh, yeah I'm coming." Ike said, as he put on his own jacket, and followed Butters out the door.

"Dude, are we sure we can trust Butters around my brother?" Kyle asked.

"He's probably only going to accompany him as far as my house." Nick stated.

"Dude, Butters has shown some improvement in himself since Nick got here, so I don't think we should worry." Stan stated.  
"Yeah, you're right." Kyle said, now finishing up his breakfast

As Butters and Ike left the house, they begin to notice that they really don't have much to talk about, so they just kinda awkwardly walk along until they eventually got to Colin's house. "Ah, this is my stop. You can go on ahead if you want, Ike." Butters stated as he went to knock on the door. Ike was tempted to walk along, but he decided that he would like to me Nick's Dad and see what he was like. It didn't take long for Colin to answer the door. He was a holding what looked to be some sheet of paper. "Ah, Butters, I didn't expect you to be here so early." Colin said. "I've got what you asked for right here." Colin said motioning to the papers in his hand. Colin looked behind Butters and saw Ike. "Who is that?"

Butters looked behind him and saw that, to his surprise, that Ike was still there. "Oh, I didn't think he was gonna stick around." Butters stated. "Hey, why don't you come up here and say hi?!" Ike was surprised that Butters asked him to come on up, but he didn't see any harm in introducing himself, so he walked up to the front door. "Hello, sir…" Ike said, softly. "My name is Ike Broflozski."

"It's nice to meet you, Ike." Nick said, shaking his small hand. "You must be Kyle's little brother."

"Yeah, I am…" Ike said, looking up at him with a neutral expression. Colin couldn't help but smile at the small Canadian child in his eyesight. "Why are you out so early?"

"I like to help the teacher clean the chalkboard before school starts." Ike answered, telling a half lie. Colin was able to catch the lie, but he decided not to call him out on it. "Hey Ike, I'm aware what happened in Canada…" Colin stated.

"Of course you are, it was all over the news." Ike stated.

"Touche," Colin responded. "I guess I can tell that you're still upset."

"Colin is a therapist, I'm sure that he would gladly talk to you about… well, anything really." Butters stated. "He's the reason why I'm stronger now."

Ike did notice that Butters was standing up straighter, and while he would normally scoff at the thought of seeing a therapist, Ike felt that he could trust Colin. In fact, to him, it just felt like he was talking to bigger Nick just without the auburn hair. "Thank you, I'll definitely consider it."

"You seem to have a lot of knowledge for a kid your age." Colin stated. "How old are you, exactly?"

"I'm five years old." Ike answered. Colin couldn't deny that Ike seemed to have a lot of knowledge for a kid his age. He decided that he was going to have read his file next.

"Colin, can I have those papers now?" Butters asked.

"Oh right," Colin gave the sheets of paper to Butters. "Sorry for keeping to for so long."

"It's alright, sir…" Ike said as he began to walk back to the sidewalk, Colin decided to ask one more question. "My son was at your house yesterday, did you meet him?"

"Yeah, I did," Ike answered. "Sir, your son is awesome!" Ike said, smiling. Colin couldn't help but smile back at him. "I'm glad you think so. You better get going now."

"I'll see you soon, Colin." Butters said.

"See'ya, Butters." Colin then went back inside and decided to read up on Ike.

After Butters and Ike reached the school, they each went their own separate ways. Ike heading to his classroom, and Butters heading to Strong Woman's office.  
"Excuse ma'am," Butters said, opening the door.

"Oh, good morning, Butters." Strong said. "You're here pretty early."

"I know, I just wanted to ask if it was okay if I used the auditorium for today." Butters said, looking at her nervously.

"What for?"

Butters handed the sheets of paper to Strong and she took a look through them. "Oh, I see, you want to perform this song in front of the school." Strong gave the song a quick read and then gave it back to Butters. "Why do you want to perform this?"

"I want to surprise a few friends of mine. They've been nothing but helpful to me these past few days and I wanted to thank them somehow." Butters answered, with a gentle smile on his face.

"I understand…" Strong Woman got on her office phone and told Mr. Mackey that a student wanted to perform a song after lunch, and made sure that everything there was set up. "There you have it, Butters. Good luck."  
"Thank you, Ms. Woman." Butters left the office and saw that class was about to start so he headed towards Ms. Ellen's class. When he got there, he saw that Nick and the others were already there.

"Hey fellas!" Butters said, cheerfully.

"Hey Butters," Nick said. "You got everything set up?"

"Sure did, and I can't wait to show you guys."

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be great." Nick said, smiling at him.

A few hours went by, and Butters had asked the teacher if he could be excused. Ms. Ellen, who had been previously informed by Strong what he was doing, allowed him to go. Butters then headed to the auditorium, where he made sure that the microphone was working, and that instruments are intact. Colin was also kind enough to give him an instrumental track so that he wouldn't have to find people to play live instruments. So, while the kids were at lunch, he would be practicing to make sure that he didn't screw up this song.

After everyone was done eating lunch, Mr. Mackey announced that everyone would come to the school auditorium and that Butters wanted to perform something.

"Oh great, we get to watch piss himself in front of everyone again." Cartman said.

"Cartman if you know what's good for you, stop talking." Nick said, giving him a death stare that made Cartman shrink three times his size.

"Dude, you got him scared to death." Kenny stated.

"Good, maybe he'll learn to mess with me or my family anymore."

"Oh, so Butters is family now?" Kenny asked.

"Well, considering that my Dad is going to adopt him after this, yeah." Nick stated.

"Wait, you're Dad is going to adopt him?" Stan asked.  
"Yeah, he asked me about it, and I said I would be glad to have him." Nick answered.

"Wow, I don't think a lot of people would do that for someone." Stan stated.

"I know, but that's my Dad for you."

They all took their seats in the auditorium, and they all waited for Butters to get on stage.

"Hey guys, I'm glad that you guys could make it." Butters said, with confidence. "Before I start, I would just like to thank a few certain individuals for these past few weeks. I like to thank Stan and Kyle for going out of there way to look for me when I was planning on running away, and I'm glad to see that you guys actually do care. I like to thank Kenny for just being there for me after all these years, I wouldn't be who I am without you, man, thank you." At that moment, everyone heard Cartman's snicker, he found this speech to be incredibly hilarious even though no one else found it funny.

"You regret not killing him?" Kyle asked, quietly.

"You don't even have to ask." Nick said, with a low monotone.

"And lastly, I would like to thank Nick and Colin Finn for giving me the courage to not only stand up to Eric Cartman but for helping me realize that my life didn't have to be the way it was back home. I was living in a toxic house, with a Father who just wanted to control me, and a Mother who was too afraid to do anything for me, and these guys have helped me realize that I don't have to live that way, and for that, I thank them. I am going to sing a song that perfectly captures my feelings right now, I hope you all enjoy." Butters signaled Mr. Mackey to push the play a button, and after a few seconds of the introduction, he started to sing.

 _I've run out of time  
I'm leaving this morning  
I'm leaving the chaos  
That my parents have built  
_

 _I won't be reminded  
Of all of your failures  
No hurt or hard feelings  
That I've so often felt  
_

 _It's always been Butters do this and Butters do that  
And stop all your whining and act like a man  
And pick up your room or I'll beat you senseless  
But I won't have to anymore  
_

 _It's never been easy  
To be this neglected  
Always searching for comfort  
From a man who's not there  
You think that it's silly  
And not that important  
But children remember when their fathers don't care  
_

 _It's always been Butters do this and Butters do that  
And don't wear that shit cuz you look like a fag  
And why can't you just be masculine  
But I won't have to anymore_

 _I won't stay and listen to more disrespectful remarks  
From a man who is constantly beating me down  
I'm aware there are tough times ahead  
But that's fine with me cuz I'll finally be out on my own  
_

 _Hey, guys, it's time now  
To go out the door  
Who knows what will happen  
Or what life has in store  
But I've got to keep trying  
To fix what's been broken  
And sooner or later I'll be stronger than before  
_

 _It's always been Butters do this and Butters do that  
But I won't be a part of that  
I'll take this chance and not look back  
Cuz I won't have to anymore._

After Butters had finished that last note, he was met with thunderous applause, the most he has gotten ever since his tap dance routine. He also couldn't help but notice that the girls were the loudest. "Aw geez, thanks, guys." Butters said, with a big smile on his face. He then exited stage left, and the first person to greet him was Nick.

"That was amazing, Butters." Nick said, excitedly. "I figured it was going to be something special, but I wasn't expecting this."

"Thanks, Nick, but I wouldn't have been able to do that without you and Colin's guidance." Butters said, smiling. Nick put his hands on Butters shoulders and told him. "You did this on your own, Butters."

"I got the music from Colin though."

"Yeah, but it takes a lot of guts to go up on stage and perform like that, and you did it effortlessly."

'Heh, a few years ago I would've pissed myself under pressure, but for some reason, I wasn't nervous this time. I felt confident, more confident than I ever have in my life."

Nick just smiled in response and took his hands off his shoulder. "You did great, bro."

"Bro?"

It was at that moment when Kenny arrived. "There's the man of the hour, where has that confidence been hiding all this time." Kenny said putting his arm around Butters.

"I'm glad you liked it, Kenny." Butters said, smiling.

"Dude, those girls are going to be all over you." Kenny stated. "I swear I saw one take her underwear off."

"Kenny!" Butters said, red in the face.

"Wait, you serious?" Nick asked.

"No, I'm just messing with him!" Kenny said, laughing. "But seriously, you're probably going to get asked out a lot, so be prepared for that."

"Aw geez, after Charlotte I'm not ready to get in a relationship." Butters stated, nervously.

"Who is Charlotte?" Nick asked.  
"His ex-girlfriend, they were pretty close, but she broke up with him during the whole boys vs girl war."

"Oh yeah, Heidi mentioned that to me." Nick stated. "Let's not get into that. Butters, if you don't want to be in a relationship, you better come up with something to say."

"How about, 'I'm not looking for a girlfriend yet?'"

"That'll work." Nick answered, quickly.

"Dude, do you have experience with breaking hearts?" Kenny asked.

"A few here and there." Nick answered.

Butters took a look down the hall and saw that the girls were indeed waiting patiently for him. "Wow, Kenny, you weren't kidding." Butters stated. "What should I do?"

"Go out there and just accept it, man." Kenny said.

"Okay, but where are Stan and Kyle?" Butters asked.

Stan and Kyle just stood outside the hall, they wanted to go and congratulate Butters, but making it through the mob of girls proved to be more trouble than it was worth.

"I'm happy for him, but I'm not going through that." Stan said.  
"Me too, let's just wait for him out here."

"Probably waiting outside." Nick answered.

"Well, we better get going." Kenny said, smiling under his hood.

"Brace yourself, Butters." Nick said.

When Butters showed himself in front of the girls, he was met with a bunch of 'That was goods,' and 'I love you's,' and the occasional 'MARRY ME, BUTTERS!' It was much more than he could handle, but he couldn't deny that he was enjoying the attention, especially since he had never really been this popular with the girls.

"Wow, looks like he's enjoying the attention." Wendy said, watching from a distance.

"Oh hey, Wendy," Stan said. "When did you get here?"

"Just now. I wanted to wait until the auditorium was clear." Wendy stated. "Anyway, I haven't seen him this happy in years, I know we haven't always gotten along, but he deserves this after all that he's been through with his family."

"Yeah, he does." Stan responded.

"Hey Wendy," Kyle said. "Did you see Heidi anywhere?"

"Yeah I did, she was also happy for Butters if that's what your wondering." Wendy stated.

"That's good to hear…" Kyle said, smiling. The smile didn't last long though, as it quickly changed to a serious face "The trial is in a couple days, and I'm going to be there.

"Do you know who is going to be on the stand?" Wendy asked.

"No, but I've got a few ideas." Kyle said.

"And they are?" Stan asked.

"I'll tell you later, right now, let's just go and congratulate Butters." The girls had pretty much begun to thin out, most of which coming from Butters asking them to give him some space to breathe. Seeing this as a good time as any, they walked up to him, and he still had that bright smile on his face, a smile that could brighten the day of even the cynics. A smile, that they never realized they needed.

* * *

 **And that is the end of this chapter, be sure to review and give constructive criticism on the product, and I will see you guys next time.**


	15. He Used To Be Mine

It was the day of the trial, Butters was waiting outside the courthouse, anxiously waiting for Colin to get there. Luckily, Nick and the others were there to support him, but that was only a small comfort to him as he knew he was going to have to face his Dad again, and he wasn't looking forward to that. Nick noticed that Butters was clearly stressing him out, and not wanting him to freak out, he slowly brought his hand to Butters shoulder, a gesture that Butters always appreciated.

"It's going to be fine, Butters," Nick said. "Dad is just going to let the prosecution make their case first, and then he'll just bring up a couple of witnesses to counter their statements."

"Yeah, but I'm going have to go up there too…" Butters stated.

"You were able to get up on stage and perform in front of the whole school," Kenny stated. "Why are you so afraid to take the stand?"

"It's not that I'm afraid," Butters answered, truthfully. "I just don't know what to expect."

"That's pretty normal, actually." Kyle said. "But I wouldn't worry, Colin has probably done this dozen of times."

"Yeah, there is nothing to be worried about." Stan added. "Just sit back, and wait until Mr. Broflozski calls you up."

It was at this moment, that Gerald came by to get Butters. "We're almost ready, Butters. Why don't you and your friends go and wait in the courtroom."

Butters nodded at Gerald and got up from the bench he was sitting on and headed towards the courtroom, with Nick, Stan, and Kenny not too far behind. Kyle wanted to ask his Dad a question before he followed them inside. "What's taking so long, Dad?"

Gerald knew there was no point in lying to Kyle, so he decided to tell him the truth. "We're trying to negotiate with Stephen to sign away his parental rights."  
"And I imagine that's not going well." Kyle stated.

"Not at all, Stephen is incredibly stubborn, and he's not even letting us get a word in." Gerald admitted. "However, with all the evidence that has been found by Colin and the police, he won't have a choice but to listen."

"How long will that take?"

"Hopefully, not too long." Gerald answered. "You better get inside."

Kyle and nodded, and followed everyone in the courtroom, while Gerald went back to the questioning room.

"What were you and your Dad talking about?" Stan asked as Kyle took a seat.

"My Dad and Nick's Dad are trying to negotiate with Stephen." Kyle whispered not wanting Butters or Nick to hear. Stan, figuring out Kyle's intention, whisper back, "I imagine that's going as well as they expected."

"If you mean, not well at all, yeah." Kyle responded.

"I'm not surprised, Stephen has always been stubborn." Stan stated, quietly. Stan then quickly realized that he had no idea who was even representing Stephen in the first place. "Hey Nick, do you have any idea who is representing Stephen."

"Some state-assigned lawyer from Denver." Nick said. "Not like it really matters, I doubt Stephen could get any witnesses to support him."

"And who exactly did your Dad get?" Kenny asked.

"I know Linda Stotch is one for sure." Nick answered.

"He got Butter's Mom to testify against her husband?" Stan asked.

"Seems like it, not like it'll help her much," Nick stated.

"What do you mean?" Kyle asked.

"Kyle, you know full well that there is no statute of limitations to attempted murder!" Nick said, clearly and fiercely. Kyle was surprised at Nick's tone of harshness, he expected him to be a forgiving type. "Yeah, she is going to testify on Butters behalf and admit to all the horrible things that she let happen to Butters, but that wouldn't give her immunity, it would only slightly reduce the sentence she would get when Stephen is found guilty."

"She would still go to jail." Kyle stated.

"She wants to do right for me…" Butters said. "Mom is a lot of things, but she isn't stupid, she must know that once this over she is going to jail."

"And yet she is still testifying against Stephen…" Kenny said, solemnly.

"She'll probably be the first one to get called then." Stan said."

"I wouldn't be surprised…" Nick responded.

"I'm surprised your Dad didn't try to give her immunity." Kenny stated.

"He did," Butters said. "It was denied instantly."

"My Dad's amazing, but he can't save everyone." Nick's expression changed to that of one with fury, to one with an expression of melancholy. It was subtle, so Stan and Kyle didn't notice, but it was noticed by Butters and Kenny.

"He was able to save me, though." Butter said, trying his best to cheer him up. "I'm pretty sure that he did all he could for the people he couldn't save."

"Yeah, he did." Nick said, with a solemn smile. "Thank you, Butters."

While Butters did notice his change in tone, Kenny knew for a fact that Nick was referring to a specific person. _"Is he perhaps talking about his friend?"_ Kenny knew that Nick wasn't ready to talk about his friend, but he did know that whatever happened to him is still hurting Nick deeply.

"The trial is about to start." Nick said, looking at the clock in the courtroom. "You better brace yourself, Stephen."

It was at this moment where Stephen and his lawyer came into the courtroom and sat down to the spot nearest to the jury. Normally, the prosecution would've sat there, but Colin wanted the jury to see Stephen's reaction to the questions he was going to ask. The Judge entered from his usual place and took his seat. With Colin and Gerald coming in shortly after.

"All rise." The Judge went through the standard procedures and after everyone heard gist of things, they all took a seat. "Would the prosecution state their case?"

"Yes sir," Gerald said, walking to the center of the courtroom. "You probably already know why we're here, so I'll just say that we're here because certain parents didn't know how to take care of their child, and were to prove to you why Leopold Stotch should be taken out of his parent's custody."

Colin stood up at this point, "It is worth clarifying that Leopold's Mother, Linda Stotch has already signed away her parental rights, however, that doesn't make what she attempted to do to her son any less right. But we're not here to try Ms. Stotch for her crime, we're here to try Stephen Stotch under the charges of negligence and abuse of a minor."

Nick looked off at Stephen, and there was nothing but pure anger, it's like he didn't even realize that his way of raising Butters was wrong. He then noticed that his attorney began to stand up, he tried to excuse Stephen's behavior with this line: "It's obvious that the reason that Stephen raised his child the way he did is because that is how he was raised."

"Objection!" Gerald shouted. "How he was raised had no bearings on this case, we're not here to discuss how the defendant, we're here to discuss how _he_ raised his child."

"Objection sustained." The trial had just started, and the prosecution had already got the jury on his side. "Would the prosecution call its first witness."

"We would like to call Seargent Yates to the stand." Gerald said.

It was at this moment when Yates walked up to the witness stand. The bailiff came up gave him the whole "Do you swear to tell the truth, and nothing but truth" line, with Yates obviously saying yes."

"Would the Sergeant tell the court what he found in the Stotch's house?" Gerald requested.

"Yes, sir." Yates went to tell the court what he found in the house, which consisted of the dungeon that was located in the basement of the house, the lock that was on the outside of Butters room, but not the inside, and the contents of the safe. "Thank you, Seargent."

The judge asked, "Does the Defence have any questions?" With which the Defence responded quickly with a 'no.'

"The prosecution would like to call Ms. Linda Stotch to the stand." Gerald said. Linda quietly came up on the stand. The jury obviously wondering why they called up the wife of the defendant, they had no clue that she was planning on revealing the harsh truth. She also went through the standard bailiff procedure, and she quietly took a seat.

"Your Honor, may I handle the questioning on this one?" Colin asked, with an almost monotone voice.

"You may."

It was then that Colin got up from his seat, and headed to where Linda was sitting. "Ms. Stotch, is it true that you have grounded Leopold for reasons that were not his fault."

"Can you give an example?" Linda asked, thinking he needed to be more specific.

"Something like your son having a liposuction, which wasn't even his idea, or grounding him for something as trivial as the formation of food in the pantry."

"Yes, sir?"

"I see, is it also true that it was mostly Stephen that grounded him for the smallest reasons?"

"Yes."

"And was he aware that all of the things he grounded him for weren't even his fault, it was a different kid altogether?"

"No, he always thought that it was Butters that did everything or was at least heavily involved." Stephen just looked at his wife in shock that she would say all of these things, he wanted to scream and shout at her, but he knew that would just make his case worse for him. Colin didn't fail to notice this, and in truth, he was counting on an outburst as that would practically guarantee his win. "Linda, why don't you tell us why there is a dungeon under your basement?"

"You see a few years ago, we thought that Butters committed suicide, and Stephen heard of a way to bring him back, so he took the remains of what he thought was Butters, and he buried him there. You see, that place has some Indian Tribal magic that could allegedly bring back the dead."

"However, what you didn't know was that Butters only faked his death so he could infiltrate the female ranks as the boys wanted to get something the girls had, and he looked the most feminine, or something of that nature." Colin explained.

"Yeah, but when he came back, we thought that he was a demon child, and we locked him up and tried to feed him live humans. We left him in there with the corpse of a woman that Stephen had killed. However, we let him out the next day once we realized that he wasn't a demon child, but we still didn't look at him for about a few weeks."

"Thank you, Linda," Colin said. "Is there anything that you like to add on?"  
Linda looked at Stephen, it seemed like he was begging her not to say anything else, but she just ignored his pleas. "Yes, sir, I do." Linda stood up at this moment, and she started speaking, "I just wanted to say that this wasn't easy for me, but for years we have taken more from our son than we have ever given him, and it honestly hurts me to no end that he is nothing like the boy that he was. He used to be so innocent and sweet, and I only have myself to blame for that. If I had just not overreacted and tried to take both his life and mine, then maybe he would still be at least living in denial about how we've been actually raising him. My son was broken, and he wouldn't ask for help until Mr. Finn and his son came by and they both decided to be his friend. Before that, he was lonely most of the time, he was gone, and he didn't ask for that! He just wanted love and attention and we were too dumb to even give him that! At the end of the day, I would give it all back for a chance to start over, and rewrite a few endings for my son. Because he was reckless and he'd get himself hurt, and he had to learn to toughen up when he was bruised, but only because he was being used by a man who could not love him for who he was!" It was at this point, Linda started crying. "For years, Butters was stuck… and while he did eventually start to defend himself, he was still scared of the life that was inside, but I'd still see days where he was getting stronger each day, and when I think about it now, I think it was only a matter of time before Butters reminded himself to fight just a little, so he could bring back the fire that was once in his eyes. And I do believe that if Mr. Finn and his son made him see that quicker… I believe that they were able to help him bring back the fire, the fire that had been gone, the fire that used to be mine." After sobbing for about minute, Linda regained herself, and she quietly looked up at the jury. "I know what I did was wrong, and I'm fully ready to admit to it, and serve my time for it."

"Thank you for your time, Ms. Stotch." And Linda got up from the witness stand, and she headed towards the exit, and on her way out, she noticed that Butters was looking at her. The look he was giving her wasn't one of anger or pity, it was one of forgiveness. He just solemnly looked at her on her way out, and with much reluctance, she decided to look at her son, as she felt that possibly could've been the last time she'd ever look at him. They just stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Butters felt a tear escape from his eyes, as memories suddenly started to flow, memories of a time, however brief, where they were happy. And Linda just smiled, and mouthed four words to him, "I love you," and, "Goodbye." Linda left the courtroom, and Butters turned back around, and then that is when the tears started to flow.

"Goodbye… Mom…"


	16. The Games I Play

After Linda had left the courtroom, Gerald asked for a 10-minute recess so he and Colin could prepare their next witness. As Butters and the others left the courtroom, Kenny put his hand on Butters shoulder, with a look of concern on his face. "Are you okay, Butters?" Kenny asked, muffle.

"Yeah, I am now." Butters said, with a melancholic expression.  
"I could tell that what your Mom said affected you, so I thought I should ask." Kenny clarified.

It was at this moment when Gerald and Colin came up to them.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Nick asked.

"We came to get out next witness." Colin answered.

"Who are you getting now?" Kyle asked.

Colin took a look at Butters, and they were all able to deduce who was next. "Are you ready, Butters?"

"As ready as I'll ever be…" Butters answered.

"Now, Butters, I don't want to ask you this, but can you go into as much detail about your parents when you testify?"

"I'll try…" Butters answered. "It's going to be hard."

"Then we'll keep the questions brief." Gerald said. "All you have to do is say that you're done."

"Alright," Butters looked at the clock, it had already been about 5 minutes. "We should probably get ready to go back inside."

Colin and Gerald nodded, and they headed back to the defendant lobby.

"Are you sure about this?" Kenny asked, concerned.

"Yeah," Butters answered. "I have- no… I need to do this, Kenny!" Butters looked at Kenny with a determination that Kenny had never seen before. Stan and Kyle noticed it too.

"Don't worry, Butters…" Stan said, putting his hand on his shoulder. "It'll all be over soon."

Once the 10-minute recess had ended, they all headed back inside the courtroom, and Butters had gone ahead and sat down on the witness stand.

"I see the prosecution has already got their witness ready." The Judge remarked. "Would the witness state his name, age, and grade level?"

"Yes, sir." Butters answered, calmly. "My name is Leopold Stotch, but people usually call me Butters. I'm 10 years old, and I am in the fourth grade."

"Leopold, it's my understanding that you are the victim of some terrible circumstances." Gerald said.  
"Yes, sir."

"May you please describe to the court what life was like living with your father?" Colin asked.

"Objection!" The defense yelled. "Your Honor, I don't think we should have the witness remind himself of his father's treatment." The judge was about to sustain the objection, but Butters spoke up. "Sir, I understand why you say that, but I am perfectly capable of testifying on this topic." Butters said.

"Are you sure, Leopold?" The judge asked.

"Never been surer in my life." Butters answered.

"In that case, you may begin your testimony."

Butters took a deep breath and looked straight at the jury. "If you want me to be honest, living with my Dad has been nothing short of hell. I don't think he has ever done a kind thing for me in my life."

"That is not true and you know it, Butters!" Stephen yelled.

"Order, the defendant will refrain from unnecessary outbursts!" The judge declared. Stephen sat back down in a huff.

"Leopold is it true that your father often blamed you for events that you weren't even aware were happening."

"Yes, sir."

"Can you name one in particular?"

"This one time, an ex-friend of mine, Eric Cartman wanted to do something that made me look gay, however, it backfired on him and it did the opposite, so he blindfolded me and tried to get me to do what he did to me."

"Do you know what he did?" Gerald asked.

"I do now, and I'd rather not go into full detail," Butters answered. "Anyway, my Dad came in before I could even do what he wanted me to do, and even though I was blindfolded, my Dad came in panicking afraid that I was gay, which was hypocritical of him considering his extracurricular activities, so he said that I was just bi-curious and confused."

"To reiterate, you didn't even know what Cartman was trying to get you to do?" Colin asked.

"Yeah, and to top it all off, I was blindfolded and I didn't even know what bicurious meant at the time!" Butters shouted. "He even assigned me to a conversion camp where I saw multiple kids commit suicide, and one boy I befriended tried to kill himself because he was scared of his feelings for me! Dad didn't even consider how I possibly felt until I decided to speak up about the situation!" With every passing statement, Butters was getting more furious with his father. Kenny, Stan, and Kyle had only seen Butters this angry once, but it was still jarring to them.

"Butters, calm down, take some deep breaths." Colin said, in a soft voice. Butters did as he said, and took some deep breaths until he felt calm enough to continue his testimony. "Thank you, Colin… I'm fine, now."

"Butters, have you forgotten about all of the games we used to play?" Stephen asked, trying to bring back any good memories they might have. The problem was that Butters didn't have a single good memory of his Dad. "Games…? What games?" Butters questioned.

"I never once looked for trouble, and yet you still blamed me for any trouble that I might've been a part of. And you know what, I don't accept the blame for all the times you grounded me because they were almost never my fault."

"You were being a bad boy!" Stephen shouted.

"I've got a good and a bad side, Dad, and guess what? There one and the same person!"

"The defendant will refrain from-" The judge began to say.

"No, let him say what he wants, I'm not going to run away from him." Butters said, with a confidence that no one had ever seen before.

"You've had never once felt bad about your behavior!"  
"No, I've done all that I could to satisfy, I obeyed every one of your commands, and it never satisfied you! I woke every morning, and took my bath and drank my tea, and I did everything I could to get your love, and you know what? It's tough with love and love is tough to show, but it's time for me to face the music and listen to that one song that I've been waiting to hear for so long!"  
"Butters, everything I did was to make sure that you could grow up into a fine man." Stephen said, trying to excuse his behavior.

"No, every day was like a bet on the horses." Butters rebutted. "And I would die by the degree every time, and not just me, but Mom too."

"Young man, I loved your Mom to death."

"Oh really, then I guess all those affairs with those men are just a tribute to us both, huh? Did you really love us, or was that only dependent on the day?!"

Everyone was shocked at how much Butters was calling out his Dad, it wasn't the first time this happened. Stan, Kyle, and Kenny had seen this before, but Nick had only vaguely heard of his outburst and had no idea of what the scope of it was. _"So, this is Butters without any chains holding him down."_ Nick thought. He didn't know whether he should be impressed or worried, but right now, he couldn't help but enjoy seeing Butters tear his father apart at the seams. This trial was good as won. "It's tough, my friends. Love is tough to show, and I've been waiting for someone to play the music of love and care for years too long to comprehend!"

"Butters, you better calm down right now!" Stephen ordered.

"You know what, it used to hurt not to love him, it hurts when love fades. But it was hard to keep loving him when part of him was off playing sexual charades with other men! If you asked me if I needed him, I would say to get him out of my way! These are the only games I have ever played with him, and I'm done! I'm done!" Butters shouted at the top of his lungs, and he exited the courtroom in a huff. Stan and Kyle are the first ones to follow him, with Nick and Kenny following close behind "Butters, wait!" Colin called.

"Let him go, Colin." Gerald said. "I think he has said enough."

"Your right," Colin agreed. "Your Honor, I think all we need is the jury to decide the verdict."

"I believe your right." The judge said as he waited for the jury to give the verdict.

As Butters ran out of the courthouse, he headed towards Stark Pond with Stan and Kyle following close behind. "Butters, wait up!" Stan called out. Butters, hearing Stans voice, stopped dead in his tracks, but he didn't turn around.

"Dude, are you alright?" Kyle asked. "I haven't seen you that angry since you had to go Hawaii with Kenny." That had seen angry after that event, but the times he got angry were nothing compared to that day, at least not until today.

"Am I alright?!" Butters questioned. He turned around, and he had a huge smile on his face. "I'm better than alright, I'm fantastic!" Butters cheered as loud as he could, and began to laugh like he just saw something incredibly funny. Stan and Kyle couldn't decide to worry about him more or smile along. "Man, do you realize how long I've been holding that back?" Butters asked.

"I imagine as long as you can remember." Kyle answered, deciding to smile back.

"Year and years of feeling nothing but fear and anger, and to just let that out all at once. It felt so… so…" It was at this point that Kenny and Nick had caught up, and the first thing they noticed was the big smile on Butters face.

"I guess that was cathartic for you, huh." Kenny stated.

"Cathartic! That's how it felt!" Butters cheered again, and lie down on the snow. "I feel like nothing can stop me now."

"I'll bet…" Nick said, with his hand outstretched. Butters graciously accepted the hand, and Nick helped pick him back up.

"And it's because of all you." Butters said. "If you hadn't given me the kindness that I've been seeking, I'd still be hiding in fear of my Dad and Cartman."

"Yeah, but we should've done something sooner." Stan stated, with a look of guilt on his face. "We could've helped you from the start, but we treated like shit for years instead of trying to be kind. You have every right to be angry at us, but you say that we're the reason that you're not afraid anymore…" Stan looked down on the ground, his mind full of guilt. But Butters just walked up and put his hand on the taller boys shoulder. "Yeah, you did use me, and fired me and replaced with Tweek, but I could tell that you guys felt guilty about it."  
"How?" Kyle asked.

"Because after Kenny came back, you guys began to include me in your activities despite Cartman's objections, and you guys stopped treating me like shit."

"You're right, I did feel bad about how we treated you." Stan stated. "But I still did some bad things to you."

"Yeah, and while you definitely could've gone about being my friend better, you at least tried where others just chose to ignore me. You can stop feeling guilty, Stan. You've already apologized, and I've already forgiven you." Stan, seeing that Butters held no hard feelings for Stan, finally smiled back at him, and decided to hug him.

"Thank you, Butters…" Stan said, trying not to cry.

"You're welcome, Stan…" Butters said, hugging him back. They both let go, and Butters turned around to Kyle and the others.

"I owe guys…" Butters said, his smile still on his face.

"C'mon, we better get back to the courthouse," Kyle said, putting his hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure the verdict has been passed already."

Butters nodded at Kyle, and they all headed back to the courthouse, not knowing what Colin had planned for Stephen Stotch


	17. Colin's Conditions

Guilty. The jury had decided that without a question of doubt that Stephen Stotch was guilty, Colin had asked the judge if he could negotiate with Stephen on his punishment. Not like he had that many options. "What do you want?" Stephen asked, clearly furious. "I have nothing to say to the one who got me guilty."

"You might want to reconsider that…" Colin said, it an almost emotionless tone. "As I'm the one who decides your fate."

"Bullshit!" Stephen said, still sitting down. Colin, knowing that he wasn't being watched, decided to grab Stephen by the collar, and picked him up from off his chair, and pushed him towards a wall. Stephen was now noticeably sweating in fear.

"Where did all that bravado go?" Colin asked, sarcastically. "Oh right, you have never had any to begin with." Colin looked at Stephen, he was trying to put on a brave front and walked up to Colin, but his face betrayed the anxiety he was trying to hide.

"You know, I have no idea what deprives me of the pleasure of hurting you with my own two hands," Colin said, casually. "You do know that you only have two options, right?"

Stephen looked at Colin, confused about what he was saying. "I can tell that you're confused, so I'll break it down to you in layman's terms. You can either take the sentence the Judge gives you, go to jail for 10 years and have your parental rights stripped from you forcefully. Or, you could take my offer, and not go to jail."

"How is that you can decide my fate? I thought you were just a therapist." Stephen stated.

"It was an agreement between Gerald and me, and that's all you need to know." Colin stated.

Stephen looked straight at Colin and knew that he wasn't going to budge any further. "What's my second option?"

"First, you sign away your parental rights and give them to me, and I will be Butters acting guardian. Second, you take your things and get as far away from South Park as possible by tomorrow evening."

"But what about my wife?" Stephen asked.

"She is with Gerald, and she is planning on admitting herself to a mental hospital in Denver." Colin answered. "Normally, she would be given witness immunity for signing her rights away and providing the prosecution with testimony that we needed. But the force felt that they couldn't ignore her attempted murder/suicide."

"So, she'll have to get prosecuted as well?" Stephen asked.

"No, she took a plea bargain and agreed to admit herself to a mental hospital."

"And why wasn't this brought up during the trial?!"

"Simple, it had nothing to do with the case." Colin answered. "Anyway, my third request is to not mention the events that have transpired here, of course, you I can't stop you, but if you have any shred of conscience, you will never speak of this case again. After all, there is such a thing as other peoples happiness and peace, and that you could've ruined a whole life for the sake of making yourself feel superior to a little boy!" Colin slammed his hands on the table making Stephen jump in fear. He could see the fury in Colin's eyes, and at the moment felt as smaller than when his Mom used to abuse him. "Don't worry, I shan't be violent." Colin said, allowing Stephen to calm down a little.

"So let me get this straight, I can either take jail time or take probation." Stephen stated.

"That's right, and wherever you end up, you're going to have to report to a probation officer, I'm sure you can handle that much."

"And all I have to do is sign my parental rights away and leave town?" Stephen asked.

"And, while optional, I request that you don't bring up this case once you leave."

"I get that, it's likely I'll just try to forget this happened anyway."

"So, you're taking my offer."

"I don't really have much of choice," Stephen stated. "I don't want to go to jail." Colin looked at Stephen like he was coward, he couldn't help but notice how Linda was willing to accept her crimes and pay for them, while Stephen just wanted to run. "Alright, I got the papers right here," Colin said. "Just let me ask one thing before I give this to you, did you love your son?"

Stephen just stood there, wondering if he actually did love his son, or if he just wanted someone he could control, and after about a minute of thinking, he had found his answer. "No, I don't think I have ever loved my son."

"I thought so…" Colin passed down the paper and pen to Stephen. "Hurry up and sign the damn thing! I'll have the movers get all of your belongings out of the house, so you'll be ready to leave by morning." Stephen signed the paper, and he presented it to Colin. "Now get the fuck out of my sight, you scoundrel." Stephen left the courthouse and headed back to his house, so he could get all of his stuff.

After that, Colin went to see if Gerald was done with talking to Linda. When he got there, Linda was no longer there. "I guess Linda has already left town."

"Yeah…" Gerald answered. "And Stephen?"

"Should be gone by morning." Colin answered.

"Do you know where'll he go?"

"No, and I don't care." Colin answered. "I'm tired, I think I'm going to go home and sleep the rest of the day."

"Wait, before you go…" Gerald grabbed the envelope on the desk. "She wanted you to have this, it's for Butters apparently."

Colin looked at the envelope. _"Do not open until Butters is 18"_ is what it said. "Do you know what it says?" Colin asked.

"She just told me that it's her last request… and apology to him." Gerald answered.

Colin put the letter in his bag. "I see you're not going to open it."

"It's not for me, and it'd be rude to open a letter that was meant for someone else." Colin said. "I better get on home, it's been a long day."

"I guess I'll see you around." Gerald said.

"Let's go out for drinks next time." Colin said as he was about to leave the office.

"Sure," Gerald said, going back to his paperwork. "I guess, I'll see you around."

"See ya." Colin said as he left the office.

When he got out of the office, he found Butters and his friends waiting, and the first thing that he noticed was that Butters was smiling. "Looks like someone is in good spirits," Colin stated. "I thought you would've been still angry."

"Nope!" Butters said, cheerfully. "Calling my Dad out was about the best thing I have ever done, it was so cathartic!"

"Is that so?" Colin questioned, smiling.

"Yeah," Kyle answered. "I have never seen him this happy before in my life, he was like a kid on Christmas day."

"You were amazing in there, sir." Stan stated. "I almost forgot that you weren't a lawyer."

"Why, thank you, Stan." Colin said, smiling.

"What was the verdict?" Kenny asked.

"He was found guilty." Colin stated.

"We saw Stephen exit this way," Nick stated. "So what was the proposition you gave him if he was found guilty?"

They all looked at him with curious eyes, and Colin didn't want to lie to them. "Can we go home and discuss this, Nick?" Colin asked. "I'm incredibly tired, and I just want to lay down."

"That's fine." So they all head back to Nick and Colin's house, where Colin plopped down on the couch, and just sighed in relief.

"Wow, you must be exhausted." Butters stated.

"It's nothing new, Butters…" Colin stated. "Anyway, you guys deserve to know everything happened, but Nick you should probably explain to them what I did exactly."

"In layman's terms, he basically provided a Stephen an alternative to jail time, but with a few set conditions."

"Alright," Kyle said. "But what were the conditions?"

Colin went on to explain to them what conditions he gave to Stephen, and how easy it was to get him to accept them.

"So, you just basically made him sign his rights to Butters away?" Stan asked.

"Yup."

"I guess that explains the U-Haul truck outside his house." Stan stated.

"Yeah, that was me." Colin stated. "If you want me to be honest, I only had them there so he could get out of here as quickly as possible, and plus, it just makes adopting Butters a lot easier. Normally the process takes a few months, but since both parents agreed to give up their rights, I was basically able to get an official guardianship to Butters."

"So, I live here now?" Butters asked.

"Yup," Colin said, smiling.

"YAHOO!" Butters shouted, his smile as wide as it could be possible. "Did you guys hear that? I don't have to live with my parents anymore!"

"Yeah, we all heard Butters," Kenny answered. "We're in the room."

Butters was ecstatic, but then he realized something, and his smile turned into a frown. "What's wrong, Butters?"

"What about my Mom?" His eyes were now melancholic, and Colin knew that he couldn't lie to him. "Is she going to jail?"

"No…" Colin answered. Butters eyes lighting up in the process. "But she isn't free… Her immunity only extended as far as the abuse allegations, her attempted murder charges still stood. After the trial, she would've been arrested, but she decided to take a plea bargain."

"What's that?" Butter asked.  
"A plea bargain is where the defendant of a case makes a deal with the prosecutor to take the charges of a lesser crime so they can avoid capital punishment," Kyle answered.

"That's right, Kyle…" Colin said. "She told your father, that she'll admit herself to a mental hospital, and since she tried to take her own life, it was pretty easy to get the plea accepted."

"How long will she be admitted?"

"I don't know, Butters." Colin answered. "But she wants you to be happy, you heard as such in her testimony…"

"I know," Butters said, with a smile on his face. "She may have not have done much to protect me from him, but at least she genuinely cared for me. And I'm glad she decided to do the right thing."

"Anyway, it's been a long day, you boys should go home and get some rest." Colin said, referring to Stan, Kyle, and Kenny.

"Can we come over tomorrow?" Stan asked.

"Sure, just be sure you let your parents know."

"We will, sir." Kyle said.

"Kenny, I'm going to need to talk to your parents once October rolls around, so be sure to let them know in advance."

"Okay, but why do you want to talk to my parents?" Kenny asked.  
"Just business…" Colin answered.  
Kenny knew he wasn't going to get much else out of it, so he just shrugged, and said, "Alright."

After they all left, Colin headed up to his room and laid down on his bed. He was completely exhausted, so Nick and Butters just decided to let him sleep.

"So, I guess this makes us brothers now." Butters stated.

"Yeah, I just wish that Mom was here to meet you." Nick stated. "You would've loved her, she knew exactly how to take care of Edward and me…" Nick looked melancholically at a picture of her.

"You must have loved her…" Butters said.

"Yeah…" Nick said. "If you want to know more about her, let's wait until tomorrow when Dad's awake. It doesn't feel right talking about her without him."

Butters put his hand on Nick's shoulder. He just said nothing to him, turns out no words needed to be said as Nick just smiled warmly at him. "I'm glad you're here, Butters.

"I'm glad to be here."


	18. Another Morning Walk

The next morning, Nick woke at 5:30 as usual, and, having nothing better to do, he decided to put on his coat and jacket and go for a walk. He didn't really feel like running, and he got a feeling that Heidi would be out right now. Sure enough, the first thing he saw when he headed outside the door was Heidi Turner. She was listening to some music on her phone, but she didn't fail to notice the boy standing from across the road. Nick headed on over to her, to see if she'd like some company. "G'morning, Heidi." Nick said, smiling.

"Good morning, Nick." Heidi replied. "I see you're out and about again."

"Hey, I have an excuse." Nick retorted. "You exercise during PE and volleyball practice, and yet you still choose to wake up early in the morning so you can go on a run or walk."

"True, but I like walking in the early morning." Heidi stated.

Nick just shrugged as if to say, "You do you", and just let it end there. "Would you like some company?"

"Actually, I would." And so they began to walk around town with no particular destination in mind. Nick did his best not smile around her, he didn't want Heidi to know that he had feelings for her. But it was hard for him, as he found her so pretty that he just couldn't help but smile.

"You know, if one of the girls saw you with me, they might think we're a couple." Heidi stated.

"Well, that's just silly, a boy and a girl can be friends without having it be romantic." Nick stated, trying not to blush.

"I know, right, but it seems Annie begs to differ." Heidi said, rolling her eyes. "If you want me to be honest, a lot of the girls are complete bitches. After I broke up with Cartman, they made jokes at my expense, saying things like "What were you thinking" or "What did you see in him", and you want to what happened after they said that?"

"What?" Nick asked, already knowing where this was going.

"Instead of moving on from Cartman and sticking it with my new boyfriend, I went straight back to Eric, and broke up with him in the worst way possible."  
"What did you say to him?" Nick asked.

"I basically called him a dirty Jew in the most roundabout way possible." Heidi answered.

"Ah, so he was the boy you were talking about." Nick stated.

"Wait, you knew that I dated Kyle?"

"The first day I met him, Cartman mentioned something about stealing his girl from him, and when I figured out that you were the one who dated Cartman… Yeah, you can figure out the rest from here."  
"Seems like nothing can get past you." Heidi stated.

"You're not mad?"

"Nah, I figured if anyone could figure out who I was talking about, it would've been you." Heidi stopped in her tracks, she was looking down on the ground. A rush of guilt was clearly forming over herself, and Nick couldn't help but notice the melancholy in her eyes.

"Ever since I broke up with Cartman, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Kyle… And feel guilty about what he did."

"Why would you feel guilty?" Nick asked, confused.

"If I hadn't started dating Cartman, then Kyle possibly wouldn't have realized that he had feelings for me, or maybe they wouldn't have surfaced at all. Then he wouldn't have tried to get the new Terrence and Phillip off the air, and Canada wouldn't have gotten nuked." Heidi stated, looking straight at Nick.

"Heidi, you can't blame yourself for what happened to Canada." Nick stated.

"Well, I can't blame Kyle for it, he was just upset over how much I changed." Heidi stated. "If I hadn't gone back to Cartman, then Kyle wouldn't have gotten the idea to take Terrence and Phillip off the air, and he wouldn't have tempted the President to nuke Canada!"  
"Heidi!" Nick shouted, surprising her. He went up to her and gently grabbed her hands "You can't go around blaming yourself for something that was beyond your control. It's bad enough with Kyle."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Ever since the nuke, he hasn't been able to face his brother. He thinks that his brother hates him for what he did."

"I had no idea..." Heidi stated. "But wait, you don't blame Kyle for what happened?"

"Not really. If I was forced to put the blame on someone, it would be that damn troll…" Nick said, with a clear anger in his voice.

"Troll? You mean skankhunt42."

"Yeah, if they hadn't started trolling, then you wouldn't have gotten rid of your social media, the boys wouldn't have destroyed Cartman's stuff, the whole girl vs. boys fiasco wouldn't have happened, you wouldn't have felt sorry for Cartman, you both wouldn't have dated, and the whole TrollTrace program wouldn't have even been thought up in the first place."

"But the troll stopped his actions after TrollTrace was destroyed, he wasn't even around when I broke up with Kyle." Heidi stated.  
"That may be. But think about it, if skankhunt42 hadn't existed, would you and Cartman have gotten together?"

"Not likely…"  
"And there you go, that person's action indirectly caused this whole predicament in the first place."

"Person? Wait, you don't know who the troll is?" Heidi asked.

"No, do you?" Nick asked.

"I do, but I can't tell you who it is…" Heidi stated.

"Why?" Nick asked.

"Because it would hurt someone we care about…" Heidi answered. "I know that only narrows it down for you, but I honestly think you should just let it go. That person has stopped trolling now."

"Alright, I'll drop it," Nick stated. "Besides, what's the point of clinging onto the past?" Nick's voice was low as if to say that he had struggled with moving on before. Heidi noticed his tone, but she also noticed that he was still holding her hand. "Um, Nick…"

"Yeah?"

"Can you let go of my hands now?"

Nick looked down at his hands and immediately began to blush. "Oh crap, I'm sorry." Nick let go and tried to look away from Heidi to hid his blush. Heidi couldn't help but giggle at his response. She honestly found his reaction quite cute, and also couldn't help but notice the red in his cheeks. "Wow, Nick," Heidi said, still giggling. "I didn't think you'd get fluster this easily."

Nick just continued to blush in silence. "You know, it's actually kinda cute. No wonder the girls keep checking you out."

"Wait, what?" Nick questioned.

"Oh, I see that got your attention." Heidi stated, sarcastically. "Yeah, a lot of the girls at my table think you're cute."

"Seriously?" Heidi nodded in response. "Well, that's the first I've heard about it. Why haven't any of them approach me yet?"

"Well, because some of them think you're gay."  
Nick just gave an annoyed look out in the distance. "Oh, really, it's because of how close I am to the guys isn't it?"

"You got it, it's especially the case with Butters."

"But Butters is also straight." Nick stated.

"I know," Heidi responded. "Should I tell them that you're straight."  
"That's up to you." Nick stated.

"Alrighty then." Heidi walked up to Nick, and they continued to walk. "So, I saw the trial."  
"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, you know, I've never seen Butters so angry before in my life." Heidi stated.

"Yeah, it seems it was even worse than when he had to go Hawaii apparently," Nick responded.  
"Yeah, that was pretty bad too, but what happened in the courtroom was even worse." Heidi stated. "He ran out in a huff, and I saw that you guys ran after him. How was he?"  
"He was fine, ecstatic even." Nick answered. "He seemed to be really happy to let out all of that pent-up anger that he had been holding back for years."

"Really, that's pretty cool, actually."

"Yeah, it was…" Nick said, smiling.

"So, is Butters going to be living at your house now?"

"Yeah, he is now officially my brother." Nick was still smiling as he said that. Heidi could tell that he was glad that Butters was safe now.  
"Anyway, to change topics, do you still have a crush on Kyle?" Nick asked, suddenly.  
"W-What?" Heidi asked, blushing like crazy.

"Ah, so you do." Nick responded, her reaction basically answering his question.

"Come on, Nick did you really have to ask that?!" Heidi asked, clearly furious.

"I'm sorry…" Nick said, now feeling bad. "I shouldn't have asked that."

Heidi could tell that he felt bad, so she calmed herself down, and put her hand on his face. "It's fine, I shouldn't have gotten so angry." Nick's face flushed a light pink. Her hand felt soft against his skin, and he couldn't help but smile at her. If he had any lingering doubts about his feelings for her, they all washed away at this very moment. Once she saw his smile, her hand left his face and right back to her sides. "Yeah, I do have a crush on Kyle, but I don't think he feels the same after what I did to him…"

"He did say that he wouldn't have the hots for the person you were now, right?" Heidi nodded in response. "Well, that Heidi is no longer here, and I know he knows that. I mean, when we were looking for Butters, he was the one who suggested that you two teamed up."

"You're right…" Heidi said, solemnly. "And when we found out where he was, Kyle hugged me…"

To Nick, this was confirmation that Kyle still has lingering feelings for Heidi, but for some reason, he didn't feel jealous, if anything, he felt relieved. "Well, it's clear that Kyle has at least forgiven you."  
"Yeah… I guess you're right."

Nick and Heidi continued walking and talking for the next hour until finally, they felt that they had to get on home. Nick decided to at least walk her home, even though she insisted otherwise, Nick just wanted an excuse to spend more time with Heidi. "Well, this is it." Heidi said, stopping at her front door. "I really enjoyed walking with you, Nick."

"I did too, Heidi…" Nick smiled at Heidi, the dopey smile that she had grown to like. "You know, Heidi, I would actually like to spend more time with you outside of morning walks and school."

"Are you asking me on a date, Nick?" Heidi asked.

"It doesn't have to be." Nick said, with a genuine smile. "It can just be two friends hanging out."

Heidi smiled back at him, and just simply responded, "I would love to hang out, just let me know when and where."

"Alright, how about next Friday after school, we can head to a restaurant in town or something."

"That sounds good…" Heidi said, putting a reminder on her phone. "Well, I'll see you around."

"See you around." Heidi entered her house, and Nick began to walk back a home, a smile still wide on his face.


	19. Love Starts On The Downbeat

At around 7:30, Butters woke up from his sleep and allowed himself to stretch. He then went to see if Nick was still asleep, only to find that he was already out of bed. _"That's right, Nick has a habit of waking up early."_ Butters had briefly forgotten about Nick's insomnia. Figuring that it was pointless to dwell on it, he decided to just head on downstairs, where he then saw Nick in the living room watching TV. "Good morning, Nick." Butters said, smiling.

"Oh, good morning, Butters." Nick responded, smiling back.

Butters couldn't help but notice that his jacket had some snow on it, clueing him in that he had recently gone out. "Did you go out?"

Nick looked over at his jacket and saw that there was still some remnants of snow on it. "Yeah, I did."

"What were you doing out so early?"

"I went on a walk with Heidi." Nick answered.  
"Heidi Turner?"

"Yup."  
"Okay.." Butters sat down next to Nick, still in his usual polka-dot pajamas. "Hey, church starts at around 9:00, shouldn't we be getting ready?"

"You go to church, Butters?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, I go to the Catholic Church." Butters answered.

"Butters, my Dad and I aren't exactly the most religious." Nick admitted.

"Really?"

"I mean, we're not Atheists, hell, it's impossible to be an Atheist when God himself has shown up on live TV." Nick stated.

"Not only that but every religious figure has made a superhero team called the Super Best Friends… and Sea Man."

Nick chuckled at how he pronounced his name, and Butters couldn't help but chuckle as well.

"Anyway, while I was baptized at a Lutheran church, we never really practiced."

"Why?"

"Honestly, we don't really have a reason…" Nick said, with honesty. "That was just how it happened."

"So, are we not going?" Butters asked.

"Do you want to go?" Nick asked back. "I would rather stay here, but if you want to go, I am willing to go with you."

"In that case, we can just stay here." Butters said. "I don't want to force you to do something that you don't want to do."

"Alrighty, then."

It was at this moment when Nick heard someone ring the doorbell. He went to open the door, and he found Stan, Kyle, and Kenny waiting outside.

"Good morning, man." Stan said, smiling.

"Wait, I thought you guys were coming later." Nick stated.

"Nick, we never said when we were coming over." Kyle stated.

"Yeah…" Kenny added. "What, did you think that we were going to go to church?"  
"Yeah, actually." Nick answered.

"We were able to convince our parents to skip church…" Stan explained.

"I can figure out how you two were able to pull that off," Nick stated, looking at Stan and Kenny. "But how the hell did you pull it of Kyle?"

"Dude, Jews go to the synagogue on Friday's and Saturdays…" Kyle answered.

"Oh, neat."

"Yeah, and even then my parents really aren't that strict with worship…"

"Oh, alright then," Nick said. "Come on in, Butters and I were just watching TV."

They all came inside, and the first thing they noticed was that the show that was on was Terrence and Phillip. "Hey, can you change it to a different channel?" Stan whispered, noticing that Kyle was looking guilty. Nick understood what he was asking, and he brought up the recordings and decided to put on Last Man Standing.

"Thanks, dude…" Stan whispered. "We came here to have fun, not remind ourselves of our screwups."

Kyle looked at Nick, grateful that he changed the channel. And Butters and Kenny were able to deduce why Nick changed the channel.

"I know, I didn't realize that you guys would be here so early, I'm sorry…" Nick whispered back.

"It's fine…" Stan responded.

Nick then began walking toward the kitchen. "I'm going to cook something up, so just watch whatever you want on TV, just as long as it isn't porn… Kenny." Nick said, looking immediately the smiling pervert.

"Hey, why you gotta single me out?" Kenny asked, with a smile on his face.

"Because we all know you and your interests, Kenny." Butters answered.

"Oh, how ye hurt me so!" Kenny said, in a jokingly overdramatic tone.

They all just gave Kenny an exasperated stare, and Nick just headed into the kitchen, while everyone else just sat down and watch TV.

After about 30 minutes of watching TV, Colin had woken up, and came downstairs, only to find four boys in his living room watching Last Man Standing.

"I see you guys came early…" Colin stated.

"Oh, good morning, Colin…" Butters said, smiling.

"Good morning," Colin smiled, he then looked at the TV and saw they were watching Last Man Standing. "Oh, I see you're watching Last Man Standing."

"Yeah," Kyle responded. "Nick changed it from Terrance and Phillip to this show."

"I see," Colin was able to deduce that he changed it for Kyle's sake. "What do you guys think of the show? I honestly find the show to be pretty funny."

"Well, it's pretty much the same as yours." Stan stated.

"Yeah, it's not too dirty, but also has a very dry wit." Kyle added.

"Plus, the actresses they got to play the female characters are really... " They all looked at Kenny as if he was about to say something inappropriate. "Pretty."

They turned around and continued watching TV. Colin looked around and saw that Nick was once again cooking breakfast. "I swear he begins to resemble his Mother everyday."

Butters heard what Colin said, and he was reminded that he wanted to ask about his wife. "Hey Colin, the pictures of that pretty girl on the wall," Butters pointed at one of the mounted pictures. "Is that your wife?"

Colin looked at the picture he was pointing at, and he smiled. "Yeah, that's her."

"Dude, are you sure you should be talking about his wife?" Stan asked, figuring that it hadn't been that long since she passed.

"It hasn't been that long since she passed, Butters, he may not want to talk about it." Kyle said, softly.

"Easy boys," Colin said, still smiling. "I would love to talk about her, I haven't had to talk about her in a while, it'd probably healthy to do so."

Stan and Kyle looked at each other surprised. "Alright, if you say so." Stan said, still concerned.

"Why don't we talk about her when we get breakfast?" Kenny suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea." Colin said.

So they waited until Nick was done cooking breakfast, and when he finally was done cooking, he shouted, "It's ready!" And they all came to the kitchen and sat down to eat.

"So…" Butters began. "About Nick's Mom…"

"Oh yeah…" Colin began to smile. "She was brilliant, she was smart and kind, but she was also very firm."

"My Mom would always be the one with the stricter punishments." Nick added. "She and my Dad did their very best to raise me and my brother, as a result, she would often put me, my brother, and my Dad ahead of her own needs."

"That's something you have in common with her Nick…" Colin said, softly.

"How did she die?" Kenny asked, surprising everyone.  
Colin's smile turned into a frown, they could tell that it was still hurting him deeply. Nick was silent as well. "She died while Nick was on his field trips, she had gotten sick from leukemia, and it was in its late stages, so she couldn't get chemotherapy…"

"I knew she was sick, but I didn't know how bad it was until…" Nick tried to keep his voice low, but it started to break. "Sorry, it's hard for me to talk about this…"  
"It's okay, you don't have to talk about it…" Kyle said.

"No, it'd probably be healthy if I talked about it." Nick stated.

"That's what Colin said…" Butters muttered.

"Anyway, we did our best to keep Nick and Laura separated, but he'd often sneak out to visit her along with his friend." Colin stated.

"Really? He's always struck me as the obedient type." Stan stated.

"Nah, I have a track record for disobeying my Dad." Nick responded. "Mom would usually be upset that I'd sneak off, but I'd miss her so much, that I just couldn't help myself… the last time I did it though… she was smiling. She told me that she loved me…" It looked like that Nick wanted to cry, but no tears fell. "And that was the last time I ever saw her…"

"When Nicky came back, I couldn't bring myself to tell him about Laura, so Eddie was the one that told him."

"I cried every day for a week…" Nick added. "Eddie did his best while he was there, but he was set to leave for the army in a few weeks."

"You told me that your brother and Dad didn't leave on the best terms, what was the argument about?" Kyle asked.

"I didn't know he was leaving to join the Navy Seals, he had told Nick and Laura, but he kept it from me until the day that he was leaving. Naturally, I was upset that he kept it from me, but I was angrier that he was leaving at a time when I thought that Nick needed his brother most." Colin looked into his eyes, but Nick noticed his twitch, that usually meant that he wasn't being completely honest.

"Well, there was another reason, but that's a something we usually don't talk about." Nick added.

"It wasn't my finest moment, and looking back, it wasn't my place to argue with him. He had made his decision, and I should've respected that…" Colin looked down. "Heh, looks like he was right all along, I couldn't live through life without taking a risk."

"Yeah, but he still waited a long time before he asked his girlfriend to marry him." Nick pointed out.

"Why don't you call him?" Kenny asked. "I mean, it's been three years, I'm sure he has let bygones be bygones."

"I don't know," Colin said, in a melancholic tone. "Edward's never been the type to let things go…"

Butters could feel the air in the room getting thicker, so he blurted out the first thing on his mind. "Hey, Nick, how did your Mom and Dad meet?" Everyone looked at Butters like a deer in the headlights. "Sorry, I just wanted to get back on the topic of Nick's Mom."

Colin began to chuckle. "It's fine, Butters. Laura and I met in a sorority in college."

"Really, where?" Kyle asked.

"Texas A&M, College Station." Colin answered. "She was wearing some casual clothes, with red and purple ribbons in her hair. I had seen her come in with some friends, and I simply just went over to talk with her."

"And you guys hit it off immediately?" Stan asked.

"Pretty much, we started dating about a week later."

"Wow, you guys made that step quick." Kenny stated.

"What more can say but, loves start on the downbeat." Colin said, quoting a certain show. "Man, that woman was beautiful even back then. And if I could relive that moment again, I would still choose to go talk to her."

"You loved her that much?" Butters asked.

"Yeah I did, Butters" Colin answered. "You boys are probably too young to understand, but when you find the person that's right for you, no matter how much it hurts when you inevitably lose them, you don't regret choosing to be silent…"

"I think I get what you mean…" Stan said, thinking of Wendy.

"I think that's enough about me for today, why don't you boys go outside and have some fun." Colin said, smiling.

"What about you, Dad?" Nick asked. "I haven't been spending that much time with you."

"Yeah, I want to hang out with you some more." Butters insisted.

"That's nice of both of you, but I don't think your friends want to hang out with an old man like me."

"Okay, first off, don't pretend you're old." Kyle stated. "Second, while normally you'd be right…"

"You do seem to be a lot more fun to hang around than most adults." Stan stated.

"Do you know how to play video games?" Kenny asked. "If you don't, we can teach you."

"I know how to play a few games." Colin answered. "If you guys want me to play video games with you, don't expect me to go easy on you guys."

So, they went back inside the living room, and they turned on the Switch, where they just played video games until they dropped.


	20. Epilogue

A couple days have passed since Butters has officially moved, and they were moving the last of his boxes to Colin's house. Butters looked around the house, the house only had a few of the furniture left, and anything that once belonged to him or his parents was now either gone or packed. "Are you okay, Butters?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, it's just so weird to see the house in this state." Butters answered. A 'For Sale' was now outside the house. Nick put his hand on Butters shoulder, a gesture that Butters had grown to expect and appreciate. "It's time to say goodbye to the yesterday's that owned you." Nick stated.

"Isn't that from a song?" Colin asked, coming down with a box of pictures.

"Yeah, but it seems to fit this situation now doesn't it?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, I guess." Colin answered, not wanting to argue. "Butters, be sure to check your room to make sure we don't leave anything behind. The lock was disarmed, so there is no need to worry about that."

Butters went up to his old room, and it was now empty, almost everything he's own has been put in a box. It was now a former shell of the room he once knew, but he looked in the old drawers and he found a picture of his Mom, Dad, and himself. He took a long look at the photo, he didn't know whether he wanted to tear it up or keep it. They were all smiling, a photograph that seemed to capture a happy family, but underneath it all was a woman who let things get out of hand, and a boy who just wanted to run away. Having made his decision, he tore off the part with his Dad and folded it to where it was just him and his Mom. He then put the photo in his pocket, and he went back downstairs. Colin noticed that Butters looked down, so he decided to pull a prank on his son. "Hey, Nick, come here and look at Butters when he was four."

Nick ran over and saw the four-year photo of Butters, he was smiling and holding the blanket he used to carry with him over. "D'awwww, he looks so adorable!" Nick said, right when Butters came downstairs. Nick still hadn't noticed. "Seriously, I just could hug that kid!" Nick then noticed that Butters was standing in front of the stairway. He began to blush.

"HA HA HA, I didn't expect to have a soft spot for baby pictures." Butters teased.

"Yeah, so what if I do?!" Nick asked, defensively. "I'm not the only one!"

Nick then gave a death glare to his Dad, and he did all he could to contain his laughter. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist!"

"No, you're not!" Nick yelled, exasperated.

"Yeah, I am." Colin said, with a smug grin.

"That grin says otherwise!" Nick crossed his arms, and then he started laughing. "Glad I could make you feel better, Butters."

"Don't worry, we'll get Colin back." Butters said, smiling.

"Yeah, so just you wait, Dad!" Nick said, now determined to get his Dad back.

"Oh, well now I'm nervous…" Colin said, sarcastically. "Let's just get the last of these boxes home." They both nodded, and they grabbed as many boxes as they could, and they took them all to Colin's house, and after about 30 minutes, they were able to get all of the boxes to Butters new room. "Well, that's all of them." Nick stated.

"Yeah, it is." Colin looked at the clock and saw that Butters and Nick still had time to make it to school. "Hey, if you guys hurry, you'll be able to make it to school."

Nick and Butters looked at the clock to confirm it, and he was right. "Aw, man… I was hoping we could skip school." Butters stated.  
"Well, too bad." Colin said. "You guys better get going, I don't want to have come over to the office to explain why you were late."

"Yes, sir." Nick grabbed Butters bag and handed it to him, he then grabbed his bag and he ran out the door, with Butters in tow.

Colin was now alone, so to pass the time he unpacked all of Butters stuff, and he put them in the places that Butters told him he had wanted them. And After about an hour of organizing Butters new room, he headed downstairs, and he poured himself a glass water and watched TV. A few more hours passed, and he had drifted off to sleep. He was awakened by the sound of the house phone ringing. He looked at the number and recognized it as California area code. Normally, he would've ignored the call if it was number he didn't recognize, but for some reason, he didn't do that this time. So, he pressed the dial button, and he put the speaker to his ear.

"Hello…" He said, waiting for the caller to respond. "This is the Finn residence."

"Hi, Dad..." Colin recognized the voice as someone he not heard in three years.

"Eddie?"

* * *

 **And that is the end of _A Little Kindness Goes A Long Way._ I do hope you guys enjoyed the story, but it's not over yet, there is still more yet to come. So look forward to my next South Park story: _When All Else Falls, I'll Still Be Here._ I will give a full synopsis once I have the first chapter done, so I ask you all to have patience, as all of these stories have the "when it's done" status. Until then, fare thee well.**


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